Home Sweet Home
by Modern-Insomniac1138
Summary: Carly Hayes is a freshman at Neptune High, and she’s an old friend of the Echolls Family. Slight AU. Season 2. LoganOC Friendship, LoVe eventually, BeaverOC, Ensemble Please R
1. Chapter 1: Carly Hayes

Title: Home Sweet Home

Author: SWChick57

Pairing/Character: Logan/OC Friendship, LoVe eventually, a little V/D, Beaver/OC, Ensemble

Word Count: 1,023

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Carly Hayes is a freshman at Neptune High, and she's an old family friend of the Echolls Family. Slight AU. Season 2.

Disclaimer: I do not own Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas does. Though I wish I owned Logan… Oh well!

_November 3, 2002_

"_Logan, I'm going to miss you," 11-year-old Carly Hayes said quietly as her family finished loading the cab. Her short black/brown hair covered her face as she looked down at the ground. They were on their way to the airport. They were going to fly in their private jet. They were moving to North Carolina because of her pregnant older sister, Cecilia. Her parents thought it would be better for her to have the baby someplace else, a place where they could get less media attention. They still kept the house though, just in case they wanted to return to Neptune. _

_The Hayes Family is apart of high society. Mark Hayes, Carly and Cecilia's father, is the president of the prestigious "Hayes Cosmetics", a company that's known for their high quality cosmetics. Their grandmother, Patricia Hayes, started the company. Julia Hayes, Carly and Cecilia's mother, was a Hayes Cosmetics model. That's how their parents met._

_Julia Hayes's best friend was Lynn Echolls, another Hayes Cosmetics model. After Julia got married they moved next door to the Echolls Family. That's how it was. The Echolls Family and the Hayes Family, two of the picture perfect families of America. Every housewife dreamed that their own family could compare to them, but not everything is as perfect as they seem._

"_Yeah, Carly, me too," 14-year-old Logan Echolls said sadly. Carly was like his little sister. He's known Carly and her family forever. He went to high school with her older sister, Cecilia. She was an 09er with a soul. Cecilia Hayes was also one of Logan's close friends. She was a senior, while he was only a mere freshman. Cecilia didn't ignore Logan at school, though. They were good friends, but there are some things that Cecilia could never tell Logan._

_They both stared at the ground for a few more seconds then Mr. Hayes yelled, "Carly, we have to go now, or we're going to miss our flight!"_

"_I'm coming dad," she said back. "Did your parents say good-bye to my parents yet?" Carly asked._

"_Yeah, they said good-bye earlier," he answered not looking up once._

"_Oh, well, I guess this is good-bye for now," she said still staring at the ground._

"_Yeah, I guess it is," Logan said now focusing on his skateboard. That summer he started teaching Carly how to ride a skateboard. He said that she would be the best skateboarder ever, once he was done teaching her. It's funny how things don't end up the way you plan._

"_Hey you two," Cecilia said walking up to them. Her beautiful features and her captivating eyes were hard to miss. Her long black hair was in a sleek ponytail. She was still a little skinny, but she knew that would change soon. She was 3 months pregnant, and she didn't even seem worried. She was leaving everything she knew. Everything she loved, and all she could was smile. She never told her parents who the father was. She didn't even tell Logan or Carly. It was just one big secret, and the press would love it._

"_Bye Logan. I'm really going to miss you. Don't be such an asshole," Cecilia said pulling Logan for a good-bye hug._

"_Don't worry, I won't." he said trying to hold back tears. "Hey call me and tell me if it's a boy or a girl," he said letting go of her._

"_Oh, don't worry I will," she smiled. "Come on Carly, let's go," she said walking back to the cab._

"_Oh and ah Cecilia?" he said as she was walking away._

"_Yeah Logan?" she said stopping dead in her tracks as she turned around._

"_If it is boy, name him Logan Rad Dude Hayes," he said smirking._

"_In your dreams, Echolls, in your dreams." She shot back smiling as she walked to the cab._

"_Bye Logan," Carly said as she hugged him good-bye._

"_Bye Care Bear," he said hugging her tighter, not wanting to let go._

_Finally they let go of each other. As Carly was walking away, Logan looked at his skateboard. Then he knew what to do._

"_Hey Carly! Wait!" he called out. She turned around._

_He ran to where she was and handed her his skateboard. "Here, take this" he said._

"_Oh, Logan! No, I can't! It's yours, you love this skateboard," she said trying to give it back._

"_Please, I giving this to you. It's to remember me. Please take it. I'm giving this to you. It's yours now." He said smiling._

_She smiled as she jumped up to kiss him on the cheek. "Thanks, bye." She smiled walking away clutching the skateboard close._

"_Bye," he said quietly to himself as he watched the yellow cab drive out of the driveway… and out of his life._

Present 3 years later

"Carly, Carly wake up!" her mother said lightly shaking her. She opened her eyes to see that the jet had landed. Her mother smiled seeing Carly was awake. Her mother had Dakota sleeping beside her.

Dakota Lorraine Hayes is Cecilia's daughter. She's only 2 years old. Cecilia died during childbirth. It was on the front page of every magazine, tabloid, and newspaper everywhere. Carly will always remember when they put her sister in the ground. Her dead limp body in a casket for all to see. It was like torture. A year later, her parents started fighting. They fought about Dakota every single day. Only a few months ago, Carly's parents got a divorce. Her mother, Carly, and Dakota were on their way back to their old house in Neptune.

"Come on Carly, it's time we go home" she said smiling picking up Dakota.

"Yeah, it's time to go home," Carly said smiling getting up. She was ready to go home.


	2. Chapter 2: Neptune

Title: Home Sweet Home

Author: SWChick57

Pairing/Character: Logan/OC Friendship, LoVe eventually, a littleV/D, Beaver/OC, Ensemble

Word Count: 1,730

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Carly Hayes is a freshman at Neptune High, and she's an old friend of the Echolls Family. Slight AU. Season 2.

Disclaimer: I do not own Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas does. Though I wish I owned Logan… Oh well!

_July 17, 2000_

"_Logan!" a 15-year-old Cecilia Hayes yelled as water splashed all over her._

"_God, Cecilia, I warned you that I was going to jump in the pool, but of course, you never listen," a 12 year old Logan Echolls said, giggling at the site of his wet, angry neighbor. Cecilia, Logan, and Carly had decided to have some summer fun in the Hayes Family pool._

"_Oh you are so lucky that Carly's here or I would beat the crap out of you right now!" Cecilia warned._

"_Cecilia, it's just water," 9 year old Carly Hayes piped in._

"_Yeah, well Logan's just an ass." Cecilia informed while wiping herself with a towel._

"_Oh I love our little summer get-togethers, don't you?" Logan laughed._

"_Ha, ha, very funny." Cecilia said sarcastically._

Present

"Hey sleepy head," Julia Hayes said soothingly into her daughter, Carly's ear.

Carly, for the second time that day opened her eyes to see her mother hovering over her. "Hi mom," she replied half asleep.

"Carly, are you feeling alright? You slept on the car ride to the airport, on the plane, and now in the cab on our way to the Neptune Grand"; Julia asked worriedly, "I'm beginning to think things. Bad things."

Julia Hayes looked just as beautiful as she ever was. Her sparkling brown eyes, shiny black/brown hair and beautiful features would never make you think that she was over the age of 40. She may have been dubbed "The Lipstick Queen of the 80s", but she was definitely still the kind-hearted woman she was, even before fame and fortune caught her.

"No, mom, I'm fine I'm just tired from all the packing we did yesterday. See, I'm awake now," Carly said sitting up straight, only to find that Dakota's little arms were holding on to hers for dear life.

"She said she wanted to sit next to Auntie Car for the rest of the drive," Julia said smiling.

Carly stared at Dakota. Dakota was 2 years old, and she was talking and walking. Carly was "Auntie Car" to Dakota. Carly loved Dakota, but every time she looked at her, she saw Cecilia. This only made her depressed.

Carly was heartbroken when she found out that Cecilia had died during childbirth. She was only 12 years old, and her older sister had died. Cecilia and Carly did everything together. Their 6-year age difference was never a problem. They weren't Paris and Nicky, but they were Cecilia and Carly, and that was good enough for them.

Dakota's first month of being at home with the Hayes Family was a rough one for Carly. She couldn't look at Dakota for weeks. She saw her sister in Dakota's big green eyes. She sort of blamed Dakota for Cecilia's death. There were always the "what ifs". Like, "what if Cecilia never got pregnant", or "what if Dakota was never born". She hated herself for ever thinking that. It was nature. Nature's to blame for Cecilia's death, not Dakota. No, not Dakota.

"Hey mom, why are we going to the Neptune Grand?" Carly asked curiously.

"Oh yeah, well it seems that your father needs to get some stuff straightened out before we can move back into the old house. So we're going to be staying at the Neptune Grand for about a week," Julia replied pretending to be occupied with her watch.

"Okay, so are we there yet?" Carly asked trying to shake herself free of Dakota's tiny, but tight grasp.

"Yes, in a few more minutes," Julia replied calmly.

"Yup...just in a few more minutes," Carly whispered to herself.

Life in North Carolina wasn't what they had hoped for. The press didn't lighten up there. The press harassed them wherever or whenever they could. Carly was taunted and teased at school, too. She didn't have many friends. She missed life in Neptune. She missed her friends, she missed the sun and the beach, but most of all, she missed Logan. She never really talked to Logan after she moved. She was busy helping out with Dakota. It also seemed that Carly never really wanted to talk to anybody anymore. She distanced herself from everything for a while. She sort of became the daughter that couldn't. She was not as pretty as her older sister; she was never as talented as her either. She was just plain old Carly Elizabeth Hayes. No more, no less.

When Dakota was a few months old, Carly's parents started fighting all the time. They fought about everything, it seemed. Carly's dad started coming home late, and having monthly weekend business trips. A year later, Carly's mom found out that Lynn Echolls had died. She was devastated at the news, but she couldn't leave North Carolina for the funeral. Her marriage was in jeopardy, she had to support the business, plus she had to care for two children. She had lost her oldest daughter and her best friend. Soon after she lost the love of her life.

Five months later, Carly's mom found out that her husband, Mr. Hayes, was having an affair with a "Hayes Cosmetics" model that went by the name of Louise Scott. Her mom divorced him soon after. Carly, Dakota, and Julia moved out of the house and into an apartment for the time being.

It was not only a month ago that Mrs. Hayes decided that they should move back to Neptune. Carly wasn't sure why after so long, her mother wanted to go back there. Carly was uncertain of Neptune now. Especially after all the news surrounding the Echolls family that year. She could not believe that Lynn Echolls had jumped off a bridge. She could not believe that Aaron Echolls was the one who had murdered the infamous Lilly Kane. She also could not believe that Logan was accused of murder.

What was Neptune now?

"Granny, Granny!" Dakota whined, which brought Carly back from her deep thoughts. "Oh, come here KoKo", Julia said cradling Dakota, "Don't worry, we're here."

Once the cab stopped, they got out of the cramped, yellow car. Soon after they found their room and started settling in. It was a big, spacious two-room penthouse. The best room child support can buy. After Carly's dad agreed that her and Dakota would stay with her mother, she almost felt as if her father was saying "You were nice children, but I need some alone time with my ex-Playboy bunny, Louise. Send me a postcard, adios". She was angry at her father for betraying the family. She refused to talk to him, even see him. She admired her mom's courage during the whole situation. She loved her mom, more than she could ever love her father again. Her father was just another face in the crowd to Carly now.

"Mom!" Carly called.

"Shh… be quiet, Dakota's asleep. Now what is it?" Julia asked with Dakota in her arms.

"I'm looking through my stuff and I can't find my skateboard," Carly said while shuffling through her belongings.

"Don't panic, it's next to the door. Seriously, why do you even have that thing?" Julia asked.

"Maybe so I can ride it? It's a hobby, mom." Carly said while grabbing the skateboard to put next to her bed.

"No, hobby's are sewing and painting, not trying to get yourself killed on a wooden board," Julia said.

All Carly did was sigh.

"Well I don't know if I told you already, Carly, but I arranged for you to start Neptune High tomorrow," Julia said casually as she tucked Dakota in.

"What? I thought I was starting next week?" Carly asked incredulously.

"Well, I think that you should start tomorrow. The sooner, the better, right?" Julia said happily. "Look, Carly, I think that you should start tomorrow. Like you said, you feel fine. So what's the big deal? I know it feels too soon, but I believe that right now is the right time."

"Mom, but..."

"Carly, no buts! You're going to start school tomorrow." Julia said in a serious tone.

"Okay, fine, but I don't have any school supplies," Carly said, using her only excuse.

"Carly, you still have your backpack and your old school supplies. Just use those for now. We'll buy more this weekend." Julia reasoned.

"Fine." Carly said giving up this battle.

"Okay, good. While we're on the topic of school, the car and all our other stuff doesn't come till next week, and when it does, I'm not going to have the time to drop you off and pick you up from school. It's only me now, plus I have to figure some stuff out concerning the company. So could you take the bus to and from school from now on?" Julia asked unpacking her stuff in the other room.

"Yeah, fine, but why can't we hire a chauffeur? I mean dad's loaded, and so are you. So what's the big deal? " Carly asked plopping onto the twin bed next to Dakota's.

"Well, you know how divorces can be. They can be tricky. You're right, we can afford a chauffeur, but no daughter of mine is going to have that luxury. You don't need any more attention. The bus is the same thing as a chauffeur anyway, so what's the problem? Plus, since you love that skateboard so much, why don't you put it into good use." Julia said as she turned off all the lights.

Carly sighed and replied, "Okay, good night mom. Thanks for the chat, but since I'm going to have to start high school tomorrow, I better be in tip top shape."

"Super, well good night. Good luck tomorrow, and don't worry you'll be fine. Hey, maybe you'll see Logan tomorrow." Julia said before leaving to go to her own room.

"Yup, maybe I will," Carly mumbled to herself as she drifted off to sleep, "maybe I will"

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I appreciate it. I'm glad you are enjoying it. Don't worry, next chapter is going to have the students of Neptune High. Go Pirates!

Ally


	3. Chapter 3: Veronica Mars

Title: Home Sweet Home

Author: SWChick57

Pairing/Character: Logan/OC Friendship, LoVe eventually, a little V/D, Beaver/OC, Ensemble

Word Count: 1,673

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Carly Hayes is a freshman at Neptune High, and she's an old friend of the Echolls Family. Slight AU. Season 2.

Disclaimer: I do not own Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas does. Though I wish I owned Logan… Oh well!

_June 30, 2002_

"_Ouch!" an 11-year-old Carly Hayes yelled as she fell from the skateboard and onto Logan's hard cement driveway. Logan had started to teach Carly how to skateboard. That was his summer goal. The summers before were filled with swimming, surfing, and soccer lessons. This summer was going to be about a boy, a girl, a skateboard, and a mission. _

"_Carly! Are you alright?" Logan asked while helping her up. So far he was unsuccessful._

"_Yeah, I'm fine. Let me try again, I'll try not to fall this time." Carly begged. Even though Carly had fallen for the ninth time in a row, she was determined to learn how to skateboard. Logan was determined to teach her, but at the same time, he was determined to make sure she wouldn't fall flat on her face._

"_Sure, look Carly, it's your form. You're leaning on your right too much. Balance is key you know." Logan informed while handing her the skateboard. "Now try to skate from here to there." Since this was probably her second or third day on a skateboard, he was still teaching her how to simply flat out stay on a skateboard without falling._

_After three hours, she finally got it down. She was riding on his skateboard like a pro. Now his next task was teaching her tricks. They both knew that would have to wait for another day. They, then, rewarded themselves with smoothies and a movie. _

"_Carly, I'm so proud of you," Logan said clearly impressed as he sat down on his couch. _

"_Thanks Logan. You are the best teacher ever," she smirked as she plopped down next to him with a smoothie in hand. _

_Logan just smiled and asked, "So, where's Cecilia, I thought she was going to come over with you today?"_

"_You know how she is now. She's freaked out that college is only a year away. She's trying to make the best out of the time she still has. She's just out with her friends and having some fun with them. They are going to be seniors this year. They're just enjoying one of their last summers together. No big deal," Carly answered taking a sip of her strawberry banana smoothie. _

_"I was just wondering," he said getting up to look at his father's assortment of movies._

"_Yeah, so how do you feel about starting high school in the fall?" she asked paying a lot of attention to her straw._

"_I feel fine actually, I'm sort of excited," He answered as he frowned at all the movies in the living room. All the shelves contained crappy dramas, comedies, and action movies._

"_Cool, so what movie are we going to watch?" she asked curiously._

"_Um…what movies do you have at your place? The movies here are either a piece of shit, or starring my dad, which ensures it to be a piece of shit," He smirked. Carly was about to answer before the front door opened revealing the one and only Aaron Echolls. _

"_Logan, I thought I told you to…" Aaron yelled angrily, but didn't finish when he realized that Carly was there. "Oh Carly, I didn't know you were here," he said smiling, and suddenly his anger had seemed to disappear._

"_Hi Aaron, Logan and I were just hanging out." She said casually as she took another sip of her smoothie._

_"Well I'll just leave you two alone. It was nice seeing you Carly. Tell your parents I said hi." Aaron said._

_"Don't worry Mr. E, I'll let them know." Carly said while getting up to put her empty glass in the dishwasher._

"_Yeah, dad, aren't you supposed to be in L.A.? I mean, I thought you were filming a movie?" Logan asked suspiciously._

"_Well I wanted to take a break and spend a quiet weekend with my family," He answered. _

"_Yeah, sure you are." Logan said sarcastically, obviously not believing his dad._

_Aaron gritted his teeth and left the house._

_"Carly, let's just watch a movie at your place. For your great accomplishment today, I'll let you pick out the movie. How does that sound?" Logan insisted as Carly re-entered the room._

_"Yeah sure, let's go." Carly said. She was a little confused, but in her life of knowing the Echolls, she knew not to ask any questions._

_"Great, so what movie do you plan to make me cringe through?" Logan asked as they walked out of the house. _

_"Oh Logan, don't worry, we've got Steel Magnolias and Pretty Woman. I know you'll love it! " Carly answered smiling._

_"Oh you're evil," Logan laughed as they made their way to the Hayes house._

Present

"Come on super star, put your game face on," Carly mumbled to herself. How do you get your ready for your first day at a new school? Was it a new school? She's been to Neptune High plenty of times while picking up Cecilia with her parents. I mean this wasn't the first day of high school. She's already had that lovely experience in North Carolina. So what was different? Why was this time so damn important?

Carly just stared at her reflection in the mirror. She wasn't the same 11-year-old that moved out of Neptune three years earlier. She was taller, her short black/brown hair had grown out beneath her shoulders and was neatly done in a half-tail, and she had to wear glasses now. She actually had the option of contact lenses, but had chosen glasses instead. The frame was black and rectangular. It had a cool vintage vibe that Carly liked.

Today, she was clad in a brown logo shirt that read, "Freedom Is Not Free," a light strawberry colored sweater on top, khaki pants, her black and white "Vans" shoes, and to top it off, a leather necklace with a silver cross pendent. It was from Cecilia. She had given it to Carly as a birthday present. Carly never wore it after Cecilia died, but had decided that she should start wearing it now.

She never thought of herself as pretty, but today, she could make an exception.

"Carly, you should get going! You don't want to be late on your first day at a new school!" Julia Hayes yelled from the kitchen area of the hotel room.

"Okay mom, I'm coming," Carly yelled back as she took one final look at herself. As she made her way to grab her backpack on her bed, she tripped on her skateboard. She smiled as she picked up the skateboard and her backpack. "I almost forgot this," Carly said to herself as she made her way to where her mom was. She had decided that she'd ride her skateboard to the bus stop. Hey, it was better than walking.

"Take a cereal bar to eat on the bus." Julia said while trying to feed Dakota.

"Yeah don't worry mom," Carly said as she kissed her mom on the cheek. "Bye Dakota, give me a kiss," she said as she pointed to her cheek.

Dakota giggled and replied, "Bye Auntie Car, miss you beary munch!"

"Bye Dakota, I'll miss you beary munch too." Carly said as she made her way out the door.

After Carly's adventure in public transportation, she was finally at Neptune High. It seemed smaller than she had remembered. "Hm... now where is the administration office?" she asked herself. Oh, this was going to be long day.

She walked into the building just like any other normal high schooler would do. Then she started to hear the slew of whispers like "is she new" or "who's that" or her favorite, "she looks familiar." She clutched her skateboard even harder. The hallways looked foreign to her. It was like some kind of surreal place. As she attempted to find the administration office, she bumped into a tiny blonde girl who was only a couple of inches taller than her. She could have passed for a freshman, but by the way she acted, the girl was definitely a senior.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Carly said nervously.

"It's okay, it's my fault, I wasn't looking where I was going. Hey, are you new?" the tiny blonde girl asked. Carly looked at her for a few seconds, the girl looked familiar.

"Yeah, I'm a new freshman. My name's Carly." she replied.

"Oh well nice to meet you Carly, I'm..." before the tiny blonde girl could respond, a tall older man approached her. He looked like he worked at Neptune High. "Veronica Mars," the man said frowning, "I see you've met our new student, Carly Hayes. I hope you haven't filled her mind with trouble."

"Oh, Mr. Clemmons, I was just helping a fellow student out. No shame in that right?" she said fluttering her eyelashes. Carly was impressed with the girl's attitude and confidence.

"Very well then, Miss Hayes, could you follow me to my office, please." Mr. Clemmons said.

"Okay," she said starting to follow him.

"Hey Carly!" the tiny blonde girl called.

"Yeah," Carly said as she turned around.

"It was nice to meet you," she said smiling.

"Yeah, it was nice to meet you too...uh..."

"Veronica, Veronica Mars." the tiny blonde girl reminded.

Carly smiled and said, "It was nice to meet you too, Veronica Mars." With that she followed Mr. Clemmons to his office. 'Hmm... Veronica... that name seems familiar. Where did I hear that name from?' Carl wondered as she entered Mr.Clemmons' office.

Author's Notes: Thanks for the reviews. I appreciate the feedback. I dedicate this chapter and many chapters to come to ANiME-AsIaN-ChiCK69! You're an awesome friend! Go Asians! lol. Also, next chapter will probably be the reunion of Carly and Logan, so be sure to check back soon.

Ally


	4. Chapter 4: Neptune High

Title: Home Sweet Home

Author: SWChick57

Pairing/Character: Logan/OC Friendship, LoVe eventually, a little V/D, Beaver/OC, Ensemble

Word Count: 3,040

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Carly Hayes is a freshman at Neptune High, and she's an old family friend of the Echolls Family. Slight AU. Season 2.

Disclaimer: I do not own Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas does. Though I wish I owned Logan… Oh well!

_October 21, 2005_

"_Oh so the great Carly Hayes is sick of us already, too bad, I thought we were going to have fun this year," Karen Moore taunted loudly as her and her group of brain dead minions passed Carly in the hallway. It was Carly Hayes' last day attending New Hanover High School in North Carolina. Two weeks ago, her mother, Julia Hayes, broke the news that they were moving back to Neptune, California. Now why wasn't Carly so heart broken?_

_As Carly cleaned out her locker, she heard the slew of rumors about why she was leaving only after two months. She only smiled at the thought of leaving this school once and for all. She didn't have any reason to stay. She didn't have any friends, she didn't have the best teachers, nor did she even have the best classes. Her classmates didn't like her, her teachers didn't like her, and she had to say it, she didn't like them either._

_"Finally, I'm finished!" Carly said to herself as she finished cleaning out her locker. She grabbed her backpack, jacket, and skateboard as she walked to the administration office. She was going to say a heartfelt good-bye to everyone on the intercom, or loud speakers, or whatever they called them. All Carly cared about was getting in and out. She had written down the corniest speech ever, and she was actually pretty proud of her accomplishment. _

_Carly was practically famous at the school. She was the richest girl in school, even though she didn't like to flaunt it. She was the buzz at school, and she was a rumor waiting to happen._

_As she walked into the office, she looked around to find only Mrs. Henley, the school secretary, there. "Uh, excuse me._

_The principal wanted me to uh..." but before she could finish, Mrs. Henley just pointed to the intercom on her desk. "Oh, okay," Carly said gritting her teeth. She didn't want to say a farewell speech, but her mother forced her, saying that it was a good idea. Damn._

"_Hello, teachers, students, and staff, this is Carly Hayes. I am deeply saddened to announce that this is my last day attending New Hanover High. First, I would like to say to that I will miss you all, and thank you all for the memories. Oh the sweet, sweet memories! I've only attended this school for about two months, but in that short amount of time I've been exposed to the most nicest and caring people. You all will be near and dear to my heart, and I thank you again for the best experience of my life. Good-bye New Hanover High School, so long for now." She said as she pretended to sob. She wasn't an actress, but she sure was good at it. During that speech, she actually thought she was going barf all over Mrs. Henley. _

_Once she was done "sobbing" she sat down in one of the chairs as she waited for her mom to pick her up from school early. They had a lot of packing to do. A few minutes later, two sophomore girls walked into the office, not noticing that_

_Carly was there. They were in a deep conversation about lipstick, sex, and music. One was a red head, and the other had brown hair._

"_Oh my god Rachel, can you believe that Echolls family? Like oh my god! They are seriously messed up," the red head exclaimed loudly._

"_Oh my god, I totally agree. Wow, Logan Echolls, I didn't know him to be the murdering type." The other girl said._

"_But he is super gorgeous," the red head said smiling._

"_Yeah, plus he's super rich, do you think he's good in bed?" the other girl asked winking._

_Carly sighed loudly so the two girls would acknowledge her presence._

"_Oh sorry, didn't know there was a child in the room." The brunette said coldly. The red head only stared at Carly finally realizing who she was._

"_Uh Rachel, that's Carly Hayes, she actually knows Logan Echolls." The red head said, while ironically turning red._

_The other girl just stared at Carly for a while with a shocked look on her face, then she shook it off. "Oh, whatever," she said as she walked out of the office, the redhead right behind her. _

_Carly laughed to herself, Logan, hot? She smiled to herself, she couldn't wait to tell him._

Present

"Please, Miss Hayes, take a seat." Mr. Clemmons said motioning to a chair in front of his desk. Carly sat in the chair and put her things on the floor as she waited for Mr. Clemmons to continue.

"Okay well, before we start let me introduce myself. I am Mr. Van Clemmons, and I am the vice-principal of Neptune High," he said extending his hand. Carly shook his hand and smiled. You couldn't blame him for trying.

"On behalf of the school, I would like to say welcome to Neptune High. Your sister enjoyed it here, so I hope you will too." He said smiling.

"Yeah, I bet I will," Carly said as she stared intently at the stapler on his desk.

"Very well then, um… here's your standard information. Your locker number, combination, class schedule, ect. Any problems and you can straighten it out with Mrs. Winters, the school secretary." He said handing her the information.

"Okay, thanks." She said taking the papers and stuffing them in her backpack.

"Miss Hayes, just as a word of caution, we have a strict code of conduct. I know you are buddies with Logan Echolls, and I sincerely hope you pick a better role model than him. I've seen your permanent file, and it does not indicate any behavior problems. I trust that you'll have good judgment in your decisions. You can get your school books at the front desk. We're done here, so once again welcome to Neptune High, and make sure you stay out of trouble. You should get to class now," he said motioning to the door.

"Okay, thanks, and don't worry, I will." Carly said as she picked up her stuff and walked to the front desk in the administration office.

"Hi, I'm Carly Hayes, and I'm a new freshman. Yeah, well Mr. Clemmons told me to get my school books here." Carly said to the school secretary.

She smiled and replied, "Well, welcome to Neptune High, I'm Mrs.Winters and I'm the school secretary. I hope you enjoy it here. Can I please have your book list?"

"Oh, yeah hold on. Let me get it." Carly said as she reached for the paper in her backpack. Once she found it, she handed it to the secretary.

"Thank you dear, wait here while I go get them," she said smiling as she walked to a stack of books jumbled up next to a wall. 'This will take a while.' Carly thought to herself as she sat down in an empty chair. She might as well get comfy.

Twenty minutes went by and Mrs. Winters had only retrieved five of her needed books. Carly sighed and looked at the clock. "Great, it's the first day of school and I'm already missing class," she mumbled to herself.

A few minutes later, a brown haired boy who looked like a junior ran into the office. He looked oddly familiar to Carly. Man, Carly must've thought everybody looked familiar!

The secretary looked up and said blankly, "Ah, Cassidy Casablancas. You're late for school, again. You know what that means don't you?"

"Sorry, Mrs. Winters, it won't ever happen again. See, my brother decided not to wake me up this morning, and he left for school without me, so I had to call a cab to take me to school," the brown haired boy explained.

"Okay, Mr. Casablancas, I''ll excuse your tardy due to your situation, but I hope this doesn't happen again." Mrs. Winters said as she finally found all of Carly's needed school books.

"You have my word, Mrs. Winters," the brown haired boy said solemnly.

Carly started to think about why this boy was familiar. Then she realized that the secretary had called him Cassidy Casablancas. That was one of Dick Casablancas' sons.

"Okay, well you should get to class," Mrs. Winters said before realizing that Carly was still in the office, "um... Cassidy?"

"Yeah?" he said as he turned around.

"Could you stay here for a second?" she asked.

"Okay," he replied puzzled.

"Miss Hayes here you go," she said as she handed Carly her long awaited school books. "Cassidy, could you show Miss Hayes her locker and take her homeroom?" she asked as she went back to her work.

"Uh, sure. Where?" he asked as he stared at Carly. He was fairly intrigued and amazed by Carly. She looked new, and he was going to take advantage. He wasn't like his older, more confident brother, Dick, nor was he like witty, charming Logan. He was just the straggly, younger brother, and nobody would let him forget it.

"Locker number 322 and Miss Colin's homeroom," Mrs. Winters answered plainly as she typed in her computer.

"Okay, come on," he said as he motioned Carly to follow him.

As they walked in silence for a few minutes, he finally decided to start up a conversation.

"Hi, I'm Cassidy Casablancas." he said nervously as he extended his hand.

"Oh, you don't have to introduce yourself, I already know who you are," she said staring at the ground.

"What?" he asked, clearly confused by the statement.

"Oh, sorry, I'm Carly Hayes. We went to the same elementary school, I used to live next to Logan Echolls, and my father owns Hayes Cosmetics," she replied glancing at him for a second. They went to the same elementary school together. Cassidy was two years older than her, but she knew him in the hallways and at the parties all the 09ers' parents would throw.

"Oh yeah, now I remember. Wow, little Carly Hayes all grown up," he said smiling as he looked at her from head to toe.

She laughed at the remark and said, "You don't look too bad yourself, Cassidy." He looked up and smiled at her. She had said his name. She didn't say Beav, or Beaver, she said Cassidy. He knew right then and there, that she was different from any other girl he had ever met.

She looked up and saw him smiling at her. "What? Why are you smiling at me?" she asked slightly confused.

"No reason, so how've you been?" he asked casually as they made their way to her locker.

"Haven't you read the tabloids?" she asked sarcastically as he helped her open her locker.

"Yeah, I've seen a couple. Sorry about your parents' divorce. I know what it's like," he said helping her load her locker book after book.

"Thanks, so anyway, how's your brother... uh... what was his name again?" she asked putting the last book in her locker.

"Dick, his name's Dick and he's fine. He's an asshole, but he's fine," Cassidy replied shutting the locker for her.

"Oh sorry, bad memory. Are you guys still friends with Logan?" she asked as they started walking to her homeroom.

"Well, Dick is, but we don't hang out that much anymore, why?" he asked bitterly. After the whole Kendell situation, Beaver didn't want to hang out with Logan. Dick was more than happy to congratulate Logan on his conquest, but that wasn't Beaver. Sure, he was mad at Logan, but he knew that somehow his anger would pass. Beaver got angry, but he always seemed to be the bitch that seemed to forgive and forget. Even if he ever forgave Logan, he wasn't sure he could go back to the way things were. This was complicated. His life had gotten tougher due to his dad's situation with the law. He was in the middle of it, too. It seemed that when everybody else got lemons, Beaver ended up with the seeds.

"I just wanted to know how he is these days," she answered as they made it to Mrs. Colin's homeroom.

"Yeah, well, I guess this is it," he said sadly as they stood outside the door to the classroom.

"Yeah, well it was nice to see you again, Cassidy. Thanks for the help. I hope to see you around sometime." she said smiling.

"Same here. Well, see you later," he said as he started to walk away. Then he glanced over his shoulder and saw her about to open the door when on impulse he asked, "Hey, do you want to sit with me at lunch?"

He stood there waiting for her to respond. He was seriously scared that she would say no, or that she would make some lame excuse.

She was honestly taken aback by the invitation. She should be looking for Logan, but she couldn't miss a great opportunity to hang out with a sincerely cool guy. "I would love to," she answered smiling.

Beaver just smiled and asked, "Can I meet you at your locker?"

"Yeah, sure," she answered.

"Great, see you later," he said grinning as he walked to his own class.

Carly stood there for a moment as she watched him walk away. She couldn't believe that in less than one hour on her first day at a new school, she had managed to get a lunch date with a billionaire's son. Wow, this was going to be an interesting year. She shook the idea out of her head as she opened the door to Mrs. Colin's homeroom.  
Carly had enjoyed most of her classes so far except for her last class before lunch. Her math teacher, Mr. Wright, went on and on. She was anxious for the class to end. She didn't want Beaver thinking that she had stood him up.

Once class ended, she was the first out the door. She ran to her locker, which was coincidentally located at the other side of the building. As she ran, she noticed a guy digging through his locker. She kept running, but all of a sudden she stopped. The little voice in her head told her to see who the mystery guy was. She contemplated the idea, but decided to give in. She slowly walked to the corner of a locker to take a peek. As the mystery guy closed his locker, she almost stopped breathing. It was Logan Echolls. She slowly followed him to where he was heading. She thought about if she should say something or not. She took a glimpse at his appearance. He had gotten taller, his facial features had matured, his spiky highlighted hair had grown a few inches, and she could tell he had been working out. She bit her lip as she decided to say something.

"Hey, you're Logan Echolls, right?" she asked disguising her voice with a very preppy, cheerleader voice.

He didn't bother to turn around. "Yeah, so?" he answered plainly.

"Oh well, I was wondering if you're free later, you could come over my house and clean my pipes?" she asked trying to ignore the urge to laugh.

He stopped dead in his tracks. "What the..." he started to say in disbelief as he turned around. Instead all he did was stare at her like he had seen a ghost.

"What? The invitation doesn't interest you? Oh too bad, I'll just have to pass the invite to a certain junior. What's the matter, don't you recognize me?" she asked innocently.

"Oh my god. Carly?" he asked in disbelief of who was before him.

"Yeah, in the flesh," she answered smiling.

He smiled and hugged her tightly. "Oh my god, Carly, I've missed you so much," he said still hugging her. After a few more moments, it seemed that he was not going to let her go.

As she slowly broke the embrace, they both stared at each other in silence. He looked at the image before him. He couldn't believe that this girl was Carly Hayes. Wow things do change.

"When did you get back?" Logan asked finally breaking the silence.

"Oh right, we just came back yesterday. We're staying at the Neptune Grand until my dad gets some paperwork straightened out. Then we're moving back into our old house," she replied smiling.

"You're moving back next door?" he asked grinning.

"Yeah, where else?" she asked teasingly. Then she looked at the clock on the opposite wall. Holy shit! She was late for her lunch date with Beaver. "Hey, I'm sorry, but I got to go. I'm meeting someone for lunch, and I'm already late. Can we catch up later?" she asked.

"Yeah sure, um... afterschool at my house sound good?" he asked.

"Perfect," she answered then remembered her sources of transportation. "Um ... does that invite include a ride?" she asked sheepishly.

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, it does," he said smiling.

"Great, I'll meet you out front afterschool," she said as she started to walk away.

Logan smiled to himself as he watched her walk away. Good old Carly Hayes was back, and his life was about to get a whole lot better. Or was it?

Author's Notes: Thanks for reading, remember to review. All I would really like to say is that Logan owns all your asses! lol. Also, just as a heads up, New Hanover High School is a real high school in North Carolina. So for anyone out there who actually goes to that particular high school, I'm sorry that I made it seem like a terrible place. Honestly, I just needed a name for Carly's old high school. I hope I didn't offend anyone. Well, anyway, I hope you enjoyed the fanfic.

Ally


	5. Chapter 5: 09er

Title: Home Sweet Home

Author: Modern-Insomniac1138 (former pen name: SWChick57)

Pairing/Character: Logan/OC Friendship, LoVe eventually, a little V/D, Beaver/OC, Ensemble

Word Count: 3,280

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Carly Hayes is a freshman at Neptune High, and she's an old family friend of the Echolls Family. Slight AU. Season 2.

Disclaimer: I do not own Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas does. Though I wish I owned Logan… Oh well!

_March 2, 2002_

_"You two are beyond in trouble!" Cecilia Hayes shouted as she turned around to take a glimpse at Logan and Carly. The two trouble makers sat silently in the back seat of her black "Range Rover". _

_"God, I'm on a date with Jeremy, and guess who calls?" she asked sarcastically. _

_"Uh, mom?" Carly answered sheepishly._

_"No duh, dumbass! Mom calls me and she's hysterical! Her, dad, Aaron, and Lynn think that somebody kidnaped you two. They are planning to call the fucking police to look for you guys! I tell her to calm down, and that I'll go look for you two. First, I'm worried, then I start to think. Who are we talking about here? We're talking about Logan and Carly, the same kids who thought it was funny to rub tomato sauce on their shirts and tell everyone that they had been shot! Then, I'm not worried anymore, I'm pissed off. I have to tell Jeremy that I've got to go to look for my brain dead little sister and stupid as hell neighbor. So I get in my car and start driving around looking for you two. Oh, and where do I find you guys? I find you guys laughing and having fun at the beach, while everyone is worrying that you two are hurt or in danger. This little stunt of yours is beyond low!" she yelled angrily._

_Carly looked at Logan who was staring at the floor. Logan and Carly had snuck out of her house. It was the Hayes' Annual Charity for the Children Event. That meant that Logan and Carly would be bored out of their minds. Every year they would just sit down in the corner, while all the adults got loaded and wasted. No other kids attended the annual hell hole, but their parents forcedCarly and Loganto go every year.So they decided that this year they would sneak out and have some fun. They walked to the nearest bus stop, took a bus to the movie theater and caught a late night horror movie. After, they went to the beach and hung out. It seemed like everything was fine until they see Cecilia running over to them. She looked pissed. Now they were on their way back to Carly's house. They had some major explaining to do._

_Everyone was silent during the rest of the car ride home. Once they got to Cecilia and Carly's house, they were greeted by some pretty upset parents. _

_"Oh my god! Where have you been? Are you okay?" Julia Hayes asked worriedly as she hugged Carly._

_"Yeah, I'm fine." she answered._

_"Logan, are you alright?" Lynn Echolls asked as she hugged her son. _

_"I'm fine, mom." he answered as he stared at the ground._

_"Cecilia, where did you find them?" Mark Hayes asked._

_"I found them at the beach, dad." she answered._

_"The beach? They went to the beach? Cecilia, go upstairs, we've got to talk to Logan and Carly alone." he said fiercefully._

_"Ugh, I find them, and I can't even stay for the fun," Cecilia muttered as she walked up the stairs._

_"What were you two thinking? You two could have gotten hurt! We thought that somebody kidnaped you both! We cancelled the party once we found out that you were missing! You didn't even tell anyone a single thing about where you were going! Did you think it would be fun and exciting? Well, it sure as hell wasn't for us! How could you two sneak off like that? We were worried sick!" Mark Hayes yelled angrily._

_"I can't believe the two of you would do something like this. You should be ashamed of yourselves. I can't imagine why you would pull such a stupid stunt like this. What do the both of you have to say for yourselves?" Julia asked._

_"We thought it would befun to go out and have some fun. We'rereally sorry, mom." Carly replied._

_"Logan, you are unbelievable. You are 14, and you aren't a baby anymore. You should have known better. You should have set a better example. Youkeep telling me that you are older and that you don't need to be treated like a kid anymore. Honey, if you don't want to be treated like a kid anymore, then stop acting like one." Lynn saidrubbing herforehead in frustration. _

_"I'm sorry," Logan whispered._

_"Yeah well sorry doesn't cut it Logan! You are older, and you are supposed to be more responsible. What if Carly had gotten hurt? You don't know what position that could've put me and this family in!" Aaron growled as he grabbed Logan forcefully by the arm._

_"Aaron! As much as we're angry with them.They are just kids. We all should be lucky that they're alright." Lynn said calmly as she pulled Aaron's hand off of Logan's arm._

_"I don't know what ran through both of your minds," Mark said shaking his head in disappointment._

_"You two don't know how much you cost us tonight. This was a charity event that now we have to reschedule. You don't know what it felt like to announce to everybody that you two were missing. We had to send everybody home. This was such an embarrassing night," Julia said disappointedly._

_"I'm so sorry, Julia. Logan should have known better." Lynn said sadly._

_"You don't have to apologize, Lynn. Carly is just as much at fault as Logan is. They both should have known better." Julia said frowning._

_"Well, I think we should be going now. Logan has to get used to staying in the house for a very long time. Thank you for having us. We're sorry the night had to end so soon." Lynn said sighing._

_"I'm sorry, too. Good night." Julia said trying to smile._

_"Good night," Lynn said as she gathered her things._

_"I'm sorry Mark, for all the trouble Logan has caused tonight." Aaron said shaking Mark's hand._

_"It's okay, I guess they are just a couple of kids who are going to be grounded for a very long time." Mark said sighing._

_"Yeah, well good night everybody." Lynn said waving good bye._

_"Bye," Julia said trying to muster up a smile._

_"Come on, Logan." Aaron said angrily as he dragged Logan out the door._

_Logan glanced back at Carly. They both smiled apologetically at each other. Once the Echolls left, Carly was grounded with no entertainment fortwo months, and she was sent to her room immediately. Later that night, while Carly was sleeping, she heard something banging her window. She went over to see what it was. She found a very shaky Logan outside her window. Luckily for him, her bedroom was on the first floor._

_She opened the window and asked sleepily, "Logan, what are you doing here?" It was too dark that she barely could see his face, but she could tell it was him._

_"Can I sleep here tonight?" he asked weakly._

_"Logan, what's wrong?" she asked worriedly._

_"Please, can I stay here tonight?" he asked urgently._

_"Okay, come in. Be quiet, I am grounded, you know." she said helping him in._

_"Thanks," he mumbled._

_"It's fine. Logan, I'm serious, what's wrong?" she asked as she closed her window. _

_"I just got in a fight with my dad." he said sadly._

_"Oh, okay. What kind of fight?" she asked curiously._

_"Carly! I just want to get some sleep!" he said loudly._

_"Shh... okay. Let me get you a pillow and a blanket." she said walking over to her closet._

_"Thanks Carly. I'm sorry that our night of rebelliance got both of us into a lot of trouble." he said taking a seat on her bed._

_"Logan, don't you dare apologize. This was the best night ever! Sure, I'm grounded, but I'm always going to remember this night. I had so much fun." she said smiling as she made a place for him to sleep beside her bed._

_"Tonight was awesome. So, how long did you get?" he asked._

_"Two months. You?" she asked as she finished setting up his sleeping area._

_"Two and a half months." he answered yawning._

_"Well, we're both lucky that we didn't get the rest of our lives!" she said taking a seat next to him. In the moonlight, she could see his face. There was a small cut on his cheek._

_"Logan, what happened?" she asked worriedly as she touched his cheek._

_"Oh nothing," he said pushing her hand away._

_"Come on Logan, don't shut me out." she said._

_"I just fell, that's all." he mumbled._

_"Are you sure that's it?" she asked clearly not believing his story._

_He hesitated for a moment, then answered quietly, "yeah"._

_"Logan, you know you can tell me anything." she said._

_"Yeah, I know." he said sadly._

_"Okay, well you should get some sleep. You're going to have to wake up early tomorrow morning and go home, so my parents don't find you here. Good night Logan." she said as she tucked herself in._

_"Good night Carly." he said as he laid down beside her bed._

_"Logan?" she asked sleepily._

_"Yeah?" he asked._

_"Do you think we could ever do this again? Minus, the sneaking off part." she asked._

_"Definitely," he answered quietly._

_"Good," she whispered smiling as she drifted off to sleep._

Present

Carly ran to her locker. She knew that she was late for her lunch date with Beaver. When she finally made it to her locker, she found Beaver slumped against it. She slowly walked to where he was and sat down next to him.

"You know, you're pretty cute when you look lonely." she said smirking.

"I thought you stood me up," he said sadly.

"Well I don't know how many girls have stood you up before, but I don't ever want to be one of them. Sorry I'm late, Mr. Wright's algebra class ended even after the bell rang." she said staring at Beaver.

"It's okay, I understand the pain. I had him when I was a freshman. I'm just glad that you're here. It would have looked really pathetic if a freshman stood me up." he said frowning.

"Yeah, but don't worry, Carly Hayes does not flake out on a date." she said putting her hand over her heart.

"When was this a date?" he asked smiling.

"Sorry, was that a poor choice in words?" she asked getting a little embarrassed.

"No, actually, it was the perfect word." he said smiling.

"Yeah well lunch is going to end sometime, so I think we should go." she said.

"Yeah, let's go." he said getting up. Before Carly got up, Beaver extended his hand to help her up.

"Wow, he's a gentleman too? I hit the jackpot!" she said smiling as he helped her up.

"Well you're very lucky!" he said picking up his lunch.

"Just give me a second," she said opening her locker to get her lunch.

"Ready?" he asked as she closed her locker, with lunch in hand.

"Ready," she said as they started walking to lunch.

Once they made their way to lunch, they spotted a clear table to sit at.

"So, Carly, tell me about yourself." he said taking a bite out of his sandwich.

"You really want to know?" she said taking a sip of water out of her water bottle.

"Yeah, I really want to know." he insisted.

"Well Cassidy, my full name is Carly Elizabeth Hayes and I was born on January 7, 1991 in Los Angeles, California. My mother is Julia Carolina Vasquez Hayes and my father is Mark Robert Hayes, who are recently divorced. My father was born in New York and is Irish, Italian, and German. His mother, Charlotte Hayes, founded Hayes Cosmetics in 1976 and then died in 1994. He never knew his father. Now after my grandma died, my father inherited the company and is now a multi-millionaire thanks to lipstick and eye shadow. My mother was born in Spain and is Spanish and Filipino. She moved to Minnesota when she was three years old. She then moved to Los Angeles immediately after high school, in hopes of becoming a model. There, she met Lynn Lester, a.k.a. Lynn Echolls, Logan's mom. They became really good friends, blah, blah, blah. Lynn and my mom became Hayes Cosmetics models, got married to handsome, rich men, had some kids, and now Lynn's dead and my mom is taking care of my late sister's daughter while reading "Life After Divorce". Does that satisfy your need for facts about me, yet?" she asked sarcastically.

"Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of what's your favorite color, but yeah." he said taking another bite out of his sandwich.

"Well, I need to save some facts about me for another time." she said smirking.

Beaver laughed a little as he took a sip of soda.

"Hey Beaver!" somebody called out. Beaver and Carly both turned to see who it was. It was non other than Dick Casablancas, who was walking toward them.

"Who's Beaver?" Carly asked confused.

"It's just my nickname." he mumbled.

"Funny nickname," Carly said as she took a bite out of her apple.

"Hey Beav, why aren't you sitting with us?" he asked curiously, then he realized that Carly was there. "Hey, who's the chick?" he asked smiling at Carly. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"Hi Dick, this is Carly Hayes, she's a new freshman. I wanted to sit with her today." Beaver answered sheepishly.

"Oh well, hola Carly Hayes. Hey, wait a minute, doesn't your dad own Hayes Cosmetics?" he asked.

"Yeah, why?" she asked.

"Well, why aren't you two sitting with us? I mean Beaver, dude, she's an 09er like us." he whispered to Beaver.

"Like who?" she asked curiously.

"Like... never mind. When you two feel like you're both ready for the cool crew, come and sit with us. Don't worry we don't bite." Dick said as he started to walk away.

"Thank God, I thought he would never leave." Beaver said sighing.

"Yeah, me too." she mumbled. After a few moments of silence Carly asked, "What's an 09er?"

Beaver almost choked on his food at the question. "What? You don't know what an 09er is?" he asked in disbelief.

"No, I don't. What is it?" she asked

"An 09er is a rich kid, you know, people who live in the 09er zip code." he explained.

"Oh, so that means, I'm an 09er?" she asked.

"Yeah, but don't worry being an 09er isn't some kind of disease, It's just a name. People call me an 09er. I'm pretty sure they called your sister one, too. I mean, that's what I heard." he said as he got up to throw his trash away.

"Huh, that's interesting." she muttered to herself as she took another sip of water.

Soon lunch ended and Beaver and Carly both said their good byes and went off to class. They promised to meet for lunch the next day. The rest of the day was a blur to Carly, she was just excited to meet Logan afterschool. It's been a while since they both have talked to each other. It's been a damn good while.

"Well, your homework is very simple, just answer the historical fact sheet, and write notes for chapters one to three." Mrs. Marshall, Carly's history teacher, said before the bell rang.

As Carly made her way through the crowded hallway, she spotted Veronica Mars. She saw that Veronica was holding hands with, Duncan Kane? Carly remembered Duncan, he was Logan's best friend and Lilly Kane's brother. She guessed that Veronica and Duncan were dating. After she got her skateboard and her needed books from her locker, she made her way to the front of the building. She didn't see Logan anywhere, so she decided that she was early and just waited.

"Hey Carly," she heard someone call out. She turned around to see that it was Veronica Mars.

"Hi Veronica," Carly said smiling.

"So how was your first day at Neptune High?" Veronica asked.

"It was pretty okay." Carly answered.

"Good to hear, hey can I ask you something?" Veronica asked.

"Yeah, sure" Carly said motioning for her to continue.

"Is your dad Mark Hayes?" she asked casually.

"Hm, your practically the tenth person who's asked me that today, but yeah, he is." Carly answered.

"Just wondering, I heard people talking that you were the "Hayes Cosmetics heiress". I just wanted to know if that was true." Veronica said.

"Yeah, it is." Carly said staring at the ground.

"Well, I knew your sister, Cecilia. I was sorry to hear about her death." Veronica said sadly.

"You knew her?" Carly asked a little confused.

"Yeah, but only through Logan." she answered.

"Hey! No wonder you looked so were familiar! I remember you're one of Logan's friends. I used to see you, Logan, Lilly, and Duncan hang out all the time." Carly said.

"Yeah," Veronica said sadly.

"I also recognized your name from all the magazines and newspapers. You and your dad solved the murder of Lilly Kane. I can't believe that it was Logan's dad. I've known Aaron practically my whole life, and he didn't seem that much of a psycho. You think you know somebody, and thenone day you find out thatyou don't know them at all. It's really sad." Carly said quietly.

"Yeah, really sad." Veronica whispered. After a few minutes of silence, Veronica said smiling, "So, I saw you at lunch today. Wow, on your first day at Neptune High, you already scored with Beaver Casablacas."

"It was just lunch." Carly said turning a little red.

"So that's what you crazy kids call it these day." Veronica said smiling.

"Yeah, anyway, I saw you with..." but before Carly could finish, she heard someone calling her name loudly. Her and Veronica looked to see who it was. It was Logan, who was sitting in his yellow Xterra.

"Carly, come on!" he yelled honking the car's loud horn.

"Logan, I'll be there in a minute!" she yelled. "Sorry Veronica, as you can tell, I've got to go." she said.

"Yeah, well I'll talk to you tomorrow or something. Bye." Veronica said staring at Logan intently. Logan, instead, was staring intently at his steering wheel.

Carly looked at Veronica, who seemed dazed by Logan. "Okay, bye." Carly said a little confused as she started walking toward Logan's car. She turned around to glance at Veronica who was still staring at Logan.

"Huh, that's interesting." Carly mumbled to herself as she got into Logan's car.

Author's Notes: Once again, thanks for the feedback. It is greatly appreciated. Go LoVe! Hey ANiME-AsIaN-ChiCK69, I made Carly's mom half Filipino. Go Asians! Also, I changed my pen name to Modern-Insomniac1138. I changed my pen name because I just didn't like my old one anymore. So sorry if there's any confusion.

Ally


	6. Chapter 6: Sex God

Title: Home Sweet Home

Author: Modern-Insomniac1138

Pairing/Character: Logan/OC Friendship, LoVe eventually, a little V/D, Beaver/OC, Ensemble

Word Count: 3,338

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Carly Hayes is a freshman at Neptune High, and she's an old family friend of the Echolls Family. Slight AU. Season 2.

Disclaimer: I do not own Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas does. Though I wish I owned Logan… Oh well!

_October 6, 2005_

_"Dakota, do you want to watch TV or a movie?" Carly Hayes asked looking over at little Dakota who was playing with the remote._

_"Come on, take your pick." she asked yawning as Dakota playfully handed her the remote._

_"Ugh, fine, TV it is." she said sighing as she started channel surfing. It was a typical, boring Friday night with her mom and Dakota. As you could tell, Carly wasn't invited to many sleepovers and parties._

_"Carly, can I talk to you in the kitchenfor a minute?" Julia Hayes called out from the kitchen._

_"Coming mom! Hey Dakota, let's see what Granny's doing in the kitchen." Carly said as she picked up Dakota and turned off the TV._

_"Yeah mom, what's up?" she said entering the kitchen area with Dakota. She put Dakota in her high chair and sat down next to her._

_Julia sighed and took a sip of water from her glass._

_"Carly, I know it's been hard for you lately. I mean your father and I divorced so quickly, and then we moved out of a house we called home for almost two years. I know it's been difficult, but I'm so proud of you. You've been really strong. It seemed that you had to grow up a whole lot faster than most kids your age." Julia said glancing at Dakota who was playing with her doll._

_"Mom, I think we already had this talk." Carly said._

_"Carly, what I'm trying to say is that there's nothing here in North Carolina for us anymore. You've made it clear that you don't want to see your father anymore. I know that you don't have friends, and you've complained about your high school on numerous occasions." Julia said._

_"Mom, what are you trying to say?" Carly asked a little confused by her mother's statement._

_"I'm saying that I think we should move." she answered._

_"What?" Carly shouted loudly._

_"I said I think we should move." Julia said slowly._

_"Where?" Carly asked as the anticipation inside of her rose._

_"Where else?" Julia asked smiling._

_"Neptune," Carly whispered. Her mom nodded her head in response._

_"What? Are... are you serious?" Carly asked in disbelief._

_"Yes honey, I am." Julia answered._

_"That's, that's wonderful! Oh my god, when?" Carly asked excitedly._

_"How does three weeks sound?" Julia asked._

_"Three weeks? Three weeks! That's more than enough time, I can't wait to get out of here! Oh my god, I have to get ready, we have to start packing!" Carly shouted as she jumped out of her chair._

_"Honey, since we're leaving so soon, you're going to have to attend New Hanover High, for only two more weeks, then the third week we're pack and get ready. Does that sound okay? Am I rushing this?" Julia asked nervously._

_"Mom, I want to leave as soon as possible! You don't know how awesome that really sounds!" Carly said smiling._

_Julia smiled and said, "Well then, this calls for some sort of celebration. How does ice-cream sundaes sound?"_

_"Perfect." Carly said smiling. Then, her excitement slowly faded as she realized her father. "Mom?" she asked._

_"Yes, sweetie?" Julia said as she grabbed the carton of ice-cream out of the freezer._

_"What... what does dad think about this?" she asked._

_"Your father says that he wants to see you and Dakota before we leave." Julia answered as she continued to get the ingredients needed._

_"Okay," Carly said quietly._

_"Carly, are you okay with that? Are you okay with seeing him?" Julia asked concerned._

_"Yeah, strangely, I'm fine." she answered smiling._

_"Good, I don't want to see my baby, unhappy." Julia said._

_"Mom, I'm more than fine." Carly said earnestly. She then walked over to Dakota and said smiling, "Hey Dakota, did you hear that? We're going home."_

Present

"What was that about?" Carly Hayes asked curiously a few minutes after she got into Logan Echolls' yellow XTerra.

"What was what about?" Logan asked a little confused.

"Oh, like you didn't see it. Veronica Mars totally checking you out. I didn't know she had a thing for you." Carly answered.

"You don't know what you're talking about." he said as he clutched his steering wheel tightly.

"Why don't you enlighten me, then?" she asked smiling.

"Well let me ask you first, why are you talking to her?" he asked seriously.

"I don't know, I mean she was really nice and she seems like a good person. Plus, I've read what happened with her and her father. I mean they deserve a whole lot of presents and home baked goods for solving the biggest murder case." she answered.

"Yeah, well I don't want you to get mixed up with her." he said flatly.

"What?" she asked in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me! I'm back in Neptune less than 24 hours, and your trying to tell me what to do. I'm not an 11-year-old anymore!" she whined.

"Carly, believe me, you don't want to get mixed up with Miss Veronica Mars and her dirty dealings." he said bitterly.

"You make her sound like a drug dealer or something. Tell me why you don't want me to talk to her. Tell me why you don't like her. I know what happened, you know? I moved, I wasn't living under a rock. I know about what happened to her and her father after Lilly died. I know they turned their backs, and everyone turned their backs on them. I also know about Aaron and all." she said.

"That's not all of it! She's a private investigator, and she's known to use people. She uses people when she needs something. You shouldn't trust her." he said sadly.

"Is that it?" she asked.

"Yeah." he answered quietly.

"Yeah, well I don't believe you! Tell me!" she demanded.

"Carly..." he started in frustration.

"Tell me!" she said louder.

"Carly, no!" he said loudly.

"Logan, just tell me!" she shouted.

"She fucking broke me heart!" he shouted angrily. Carly sat in the passenger's seat, surprised and a little shocked by the comment.

"You two were dating?" she asked.

"Yeah, we were dating, emphasis on were." he answered.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Well, the first time..." he started before Carly interrupted.

"The first time? You mean you two broke up twice?" she asked in disbelief.

"Actually, three times." he corrected.

"Wow." she managed to choke out.

"Yeah, well the first time she accused me of raping her at a party a year and a half ago, the second time, she accused me of killing Lilly, and the third time, she got sick of how I was acting after the whole Aaron thing." he explained sadly.

"Oh my god! That's rape, murder, and because she didn't like how you were acting after you found out your father killed your girlfriend! Are you sure that's the same girl?" Carly shouted clearly shocked.

"Yeah, you see why I'm not very fond of Veronica?" he asked glancing over at Carly.

"I'm sorry for even bringing her up. Logan, I can't promise you that I won't stop talking to her. People change, you know that more than anyone. It doesn't mean that I'm taking her side, though. I'm a Quaker, you're a Patriot or a Loyalist. I guess that's my weakness in life." she said.

"It's fine, I'm over it. I've got too many things to worry about now, plus I've got to hear about you. My life can wait." he said.

"Believe me, right now my life doesn't seem that important. How are you? I mean, how are you dealing with everything?" she asked very concerned.

"As good as anyone is when their mother jumps off a bridge, their girlfriend's murdered by their abusive, psychotic father, and when one of the last people they ever cared about dumps and deserts them." he answered as he kept all of his attention to the road ahead of them.

"I can't say that I know how that feels, but you know I'm always here. I'm here now, and I won't leave again." she said solemnly.

"Yeah, I know." he whispered.

"I mean this past year hasn't been so great for both of us, I think." she said seriously.

"Yeah, being accused of murder and standing trial, wasn't so fun. I spent half my summer at court. What a thrill!" he said sarcastically.

"Logan, don't loose touch. Don't become a jackass." she said reaching for his hand that was on resting on his knee.

Logan smiled a little, as she squeezed his hand before moving her own hand back to her lap. Then he realized that Carly didn't know. She didn't know what an asshole he's been for the past two years. She didn't know about what he did to Veronica after Lilly died. How he taunted and made fun of her. She didn't know about his affair with Kendall Casablancas. She didn't know a lot of things, and he planned to keep it that way.

"So, where are you planning on entertaining me today?" she asked trying to lighten the morbid mood.

"I was thinking we could go catch a movie, get some dinner, and end our evening at the beach." he said smiling.

"I thought we were going to hang out at your place?" she asked curiously.

"Do you really want to hang out at the fortress of death and depression?" he asked.

"No, I can't say I really want to." she said.

"Then it's a movie, dinner, and the beach that awaits us." he said smiling.

"You do know it's a school night, right?" she asked incredulously.

"And?" he asked motioning her to continue her explaination.

"Nothing." sheanswered smiling.

"Plus I think your in major need of some "Logan Time", I mean it's been three years!" he exclaimed.

"Wow, second day back and I'm getting the Logan Echolls treatment! I'm one lucky gal to be invited to such a extravagant gesture!" she said sarcastically as she fluttered her eyelashes.

"Yup, the last to say good-bye to you is the first to invite you for dinner. That's the rules." he said as he steered the car to a sharp turn.

"Sorry to foil your master plan, but you're already late. I got invited to eat lunch with someone today." she said.

"Lunch?" he asked.

"Yeah, it wasn't that big or anything, but it meant a lot to me." she answered smiling.

"Who's the kid who asked you out?" he asked looking like he was going to punch whoever had dared toask his precious, little Carly to accompany him at lunch.

"You already know him." she answered casually as she looked out the window.

"You really have to be more specific." he said.

"Cassidy." she answered flatly.

"Cassidy?" he asked himself, not registering that Cassidy was Beaver.

"Ugh, Beaver, then! God, why do you people call him Beaver in the first place?" she asked putting her hand on her forhead in frustration.

"Beaver!" he exclaimed taking his eyes off the road.

"Logan!" Carly shouted asshebroughthis attention back to driving, andhe quicklymaneuvered so he wouldn't hit a nearby car. "Keep your eyes on the road!" she scolded.

"Beaver? Why Beaver?" he asked in disbelief.

"I should be asking you, why you even have your liscense still!" she said clutching her backpack where her books and skateboard were saftely in.

"I asked you a question. Why Beaver? How could you like Beaver?" he demanded.

"Logan, he was practically the only person today who was actually nice to me. He didn't ask me repeatedly if he could meet my dad for some sales comparisions and free make-up. He seemed sincerely nice and sweet. He's also funny and..." she started before Logan held his hand up to stop her.

"I think I get it." he said.

"I'm a big girl now. I can take care of myself. I've been taking care of me, my mom, and Dakota for a long time. I think I can handle anything else that comes my way." she said as she realized she let Dakota's name slip from her mouth. Nobody, not even the Echolls, knew the name of Cecilia's baby. Carly's parents made sure of it.

"Did you just say Dakota?" Logan asked a little confused.

Carly gasped and whispered, "Oh my god, I can't believe I let that slip."

"Is that Cecilia's baby? Is that her name?" Logan asked shocked.

"Yes, and Logan, you can't tell anyone her name. I wasn't supposed to tell anyone. My parents don't want Dakota to have her name out in the public so she can be verbally attacked by people she doesn't even know." she said pleadingly.

"Carly, you know I won't. I love Cecilia, and I would never do that to her. You have my word." he said seriously.

"Thank you." she said quietly.

"Dakota? I like that name. Do you think I could meet her?" he asked glancing atCarly pleadingly.

Carly thought for a moment, then she replied, "I think that's a good idea. You and Cecilia were good friends. I think it would be wrong if you didn't meet her daughter... and my niece."

"How old is she?" Logan asked quietly.

"She's two, and growing. She's beautiful, she looks like Cecilia minus the light brown hair. I guess that came from the father or something because nobody in my family has pure light brown hair." Carly answered.

"Who's the father?" Logan asked hesitantly.

"I don't know, she never told me. I figured she'd come around and tell me once Dakota was born. I guess things never come out the way you want." she answered sadly.

"I miss her." he whispered.

"I miss her too." she mumbled.

"You know, no matter how old you get and no matter how many responsibilities you have, you're always going to be my little Care Bear." he said smiling weakly as he tried to get into a happy mood.

"Man, you I can't believe you're going to still call me Care Bear." she said rolling her eyes.

"I'm going to say it loud and say it proud!" he exclaimed.

"Just drive." she said shaking her head in amusement.

"Hey Beaver." Dick Casablancas said smiling as he entered the Casablancas living room.

"What do you want, Dick?" Beaver said harshly as he sat on the couch reading a book for school.

"Nothing really, so how was lunch with Carly Hayes?" Dick asked smiling as he plopped onto the couch across from Beaver.

"It was fine, why?" Beaver asked suspiciously.

"No real reason, just wondering why my dorky little brother wants to sleep with an innocent freshman." Dick answered smirking.

"Look Dick, there's no big conspiracy, so why don't you go into your room and whack off or something. I actually have homework to do." Beaver said as he started to read his book again.

"Dude, bro, just tell me. Are you planning on sleeping with her or not? Just be honest." Dick said.

"Dick, not everyone is out to sleep with every girl in America, like you! I just met her for god's sake! Carly and I are just friends for now." Beaver said.

"For now, huh? Well, how about that, you are planning to get your way with little miss make-up. Well, she's a freshman, anyway, so I guess she'll be pretty easy. Also, I think she's a virgin. My little brother taking away Carly Hayes' v-card. I seriously can't wait to tell people. I'm going to be so proud, I've only bagged three virgins, myself, but for you, this is some kind of freakin' Christmas miracle!" Dick exclaimed happily.

"Dick, just go away!" Beaver shouted.

"Well, you don't have to get so snippy about it. Here, take this, you don't want another Hayes girl to get preggers." Dick said handing Beaver a condom.

"Dick, I'm not planning on having sex with her! Why can't you just leave me alone!" Beaver shouted angrily as he smacked the condom out of Dick's hand.

"You know, for one-second there, I actually thought that you weren't such a wimp. I actually thought that you could do this. Your such a little baby, you can't do anything. Your probably scared that she'll turn you down or something. Geez, Beav, she's a freaking freshman for god's sake! If you can't, then I know that Logan will. I mean they used to have sleepovers, and talk to each other about their feelings. You know as well as I do, that if you don't, Logan will. You can't keep her, if you don't sleep with her." Dick taunted shaking his head in disappointment.

"Don't you say that! Carly and Logan aren't like that." he said defensively.

"How do you know? I mean don't you know that right now as we speak, she's in his car on the way to his house. They're probably going to "talk"." Dick said sarcastically.

"Where...Where'd you hear that from?" Beaver choked out as a pang of jealousy hit his heart.

"I heard it from Logan himself. Anyway, why did I even think that you and her could actually do it. She would never agree to have sex with you anyway." Dick said smiling.

Beaver couldn't think rationally, there were too many thoughts running through his mind. He couldn't think of Logan and Carly, together. She would never. Dick is just a dick. You can't trust him, but then again.

"I am going to sleep with her. You and Logan will see, she's going to be crying out my name in ecstasy before the school year's over!" Beaver shouted defensively. 'Oh god, did I just agree to what I think I just agreed to?' Beaver thought to himself.

"Finally, my brother becomes a sex god. I knew there was hope for you. Look, all you have to do is sleep with her within this school year, and when you do, show me her deflowered panties. Then I'll know if you're just plain, old Beaver, or Cassidy Casablancas." Dick said smiling.

"I'll do it." Beaver said confidently. Although, he sounded confident, he was regretting it inside. If he didn't sleep with her, he knew his brother would never let him live this down. Just like his brother had said, "You can't keep her, if you don't sleep with her."

"Cool beans, bro. Here you dropped this." Dick said picking up the condom, and handing it to Beaver. Beaver carefully took it from Dick's hands and stared at it. "Remember, after this, nobody can call you Beaver anymore, can they?" Dick said smirking as he walked upstairs to his room.

Beaver stared intently at the foil package. "No, they can't." he whispered to himself. He stared at the package more, before he put it in his pocket. "You can't keep her, if you don't sleep with her." he repeated quietly to himself.

Author's Notes: Gasp! Naughty Beaver! Just in case you don't know, the whole "I'm a Quaker, you're a Patriot or a Loyalist" reference means that Carly is neutral, and she rarely takes sides. Anyway, thank you for reading, I hope you liked the chapter. I would dearly appreciate some reviews. Also, if you like this story, check out my other works of art.

Ally


	7. Chapter 7: Julia Hayes

Title: Home Sweet Home

Author: SWChick57

Pairing/Character: Logan/OC Friendship, LoVe eventually, a littleV/D, Beaver/OC, Ensemble

Word Count: 4,290

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Carly Hayes is a freshman at Neptune High, and she's an old friend of the Echolls Family. Slight AU. Season 2.

Disclaimer: I do not own Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas does. Though I wish I owned Logan… Oh well!

_July 2, 2002_

_"So, Logan, what's the plan for the Fourth of July, this year?" 11-year-old Carly Hayes asked casually as she handed, 14-year-old Logan Echolls, a soda._

_"I don't know, Carly, how about that annual 09er family fun barbeque that our parents love to throw every year." Logan saidsarcastically as he opened his soda._

_"Yeah, well I was thinking about that too, but why don't we skip it?" she asked grinning as she handed him her soda so he could open._

_"What do you have in mind, I may ask?" he asked as he put his own soda on the small, wooden coffee table in front of the couch so he could open her soda._

_"Well, I was thinking that we could go and..." Carly paused before removing a key out of her back pocket, "take my dad's private boat for a ride."_

_Logan shook his head in disapproval and said, "No, no, no, I thought you were kidding. Do you remember what happened the last time we skipped or shall I say snuck out of a party? We were nearly grounded for life. I'm sorry, as much as I want to piss off my parents, I actually want to go outside in the near future."_

_"Oh my god Logan, who do you think I am? I asked my parents, they said it was fine. They said we can go on the boat at noon and come back to the docks before the Sun sets, then we can watch the fireworks from there. Of course, we have to bring Cecilia, but she's definitely not a party pooper, I hope." she said smiling._

_"Carly Elizabeth Hayes, one of the most responsible and good hearted kids left in America." Logan said smiling as he handed her the open can of soda. "So how did you convince your parents? Fruit cake, chocolate chip cookie, come on, tell me." he said smirking as he reached over to pick up his soda that he had earlier put on the small, woodencoffee table._

_"Oh Logan, rocky road ice cream and a whole bag of begging and pleading is the only way to get what you want these days. Parents are much harder to crack than we thought." she said taking a sip of soda._

_Logan chuckled and was about to say something until the sound of the front door slamming brought their attention to Cecilia. She entered the house in a huff, and walked angrily to her room upstairs. They both watched her until she disappeared out of sight._

_"Whoa, what's her deal?" Logan asked as he took a sip of his soda._

_"Oh, it's probably just her and Jeremy. They've been having problems in their relationship lately, so if I were you, I would not piss her off. Right now, anyway." she answered as she took a seat on the oversized sofa._

_"Jeremy? Is she's still dating that guy?" he asked as he took a seat next to her._

_"Yeah, I think they're going for couple of the year. They've been together since Cecilia was a sophomore, I think." she answered._

_"Wow, well, for the Fourth of July thing, count me in." he said._

_"Great, cause' even if you said no, I was still going to make you go." she said reaching for the remote._

_"Wouldn't want it any other way, Carly." he said smiling as she turned on the TV._

_"Hey, don't you have Duncan, Lilly, and all your other friends, though? I mean, why did you just agree to spend the fourth of July with me and Cecilia?" she asked a little confused._

_"Well, I'll see Duncan and company all the time when I go to high school in the fall, and I see them all the time now, I guess I'd rather spend at least some of my time with my bestest pal." he answered as he glanced at Carly and smiled._

_"Good answer." she said smiling as she started flipping through the channels._

Present

"Beaver! I still can't believe you like Beaver!" Logan said loudly as he threw his hands in the air.

"God Logan, you make it sound like we're going to get married. We just met." Carly said as she played with the sand under her shoes. They went to the movie theater and saw some stupid scary movie, then they went to eat dinner at some Chinese restaurant. They were now talking on the beach as they watched the waves.

"I love the beach. It's kind of like my own fortress of solitude. It's kind of funny isn't it? My fortress of solitude is a public beach." he said shaking his head in amusement as he looked out into the ocean.

"Yeah, I can't believe you took me to this beach. This is where you tried to teach me how to surf, when I was like 10 or something. Tried is the key word here." she said.

Logan glanced at Carly who was staring at the ocean. She wasn't the little girl he knew, anymore. She wasn't the little 4-year-old girl who forced him to watch all the Care Bear movies and episodes of Blue's Clues when he was seven. She wasn't the little girl with the cute baby face and the adorable smile that made you melt. She was a 14-year-old teenage girl now, who was still growing up. She was still cute, but in a more mature way. Her long black/brown hair, brown eyes, light golden beige skin, and cute facial features seemed to gleam in the darkness. There were other assests that he noticed, though, that he couldn't and wouldn't even think about.

He started to stare at her more. Her attitutude, her posture, it reminded him of Cecilia. Carly and Cecilia may have been sisters, but they didn't look that much alike. Cecilia was the green eyed beauty of the family. She was oneof the most popular girls when she attended Neptune High. She looked perfect almost everyday, she looked almost angelic. Her beautiful green eyes, her perfect beige skin tone, her long wavy, sometimes straight, black hair, and her gorgeous facial features made her looks and status the envy of every girl, and she was the fantasy of every guy in Neptune High.

"You okay there, buddy?" she asked smiling as she brought him back from his thoughts.

"Yeah, sorry." he mumbled as he started to play with some sand.

"Were you thinking of her?" she asked as he was staring at the sand that he was playing with.

Logan looked up to meet her eyes, slowly. He smiled and said sadly, "I miss her, a lot. She was one of my best friends. I could tell her anything. Even when she started high school, and grew up, she was still there for me. Even after all her boy troubles, she would always find time for me. We were close, especially before she got pregnant."

"Did you know that I was the last person in my family, besides Dakota probably, to see Cecilia alive?" she asked gritting her teeth.

"No, I didn't." he whispered back.

"Yeah, well, after my parents saw her, she and I talked. She wanted to talk to me as long as she could before she gave birth. She wanted to spend time with me. We talked for at least two hours at the hospital, before she had to give birth. We talked about baby names and boys. I picked the name Dakota, she picked the name Lorraine. I said it was a pretty name, so we sort of decided on Lorraine Dakota Hayes. It was nice to talk to my sister, again. We hadn't really talked while her and my parents were preparing for Dakota's arrival into the world. The last words she told to me was that hopefully when her daughter turned one, she would take us both back to Neptune. She also told me that she was going to name her baby, Dakota Lorraine Hayes, instead of the previous name we had both chosen. She had chosen the name I picked over hers. Oh god, I miss her!" Carly said trying to fight the urge to cry.

"I wish I could have been there with her. I wish I could have seen her." Logan said glassy eyed.

"I'm sorry that I didn't call you or anything. I'm sorry that I made it seem as if, I had just disappeared off the face of the Earth. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, personally, about Cecilia or Dakota or anything. I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you when Lilly died, when your mom died, when you found out Aaron murdered Lilly, when you stood trial, when Veronica broke your heart, I'm sorry I wasn't there. I wish I could've been the one to comfort you, and to tell you soothing lies into your ear. I can't tell you how sorry I truly am." she said as her brown eyes started to water.

"Carly, you have nothing to apologize for. Yeah, I do wish that you were here, but what's done is done. You can't change the past. I don't think life works that way." he said.

Carly smiled weakly and glanced at Logan's watch. "Oh shit!" she shouted suddenly as she jumped up from where she was sitting.

"What?" Logan asked worriedly as he got up too.

"My mom!" she yelled.

"Where?" he asked as he looked to see if she was there, too.

"No, I mean my mom doesn't know that I'm with you! I totally forgot to call her to tell her I was going to be out with you, and it's almost ten on a school night! I can't believe I lost track of time. How stupid can I be? Didn't I notice the freaking Sun setting a few hours ago! Oh my god, I've gone nuts! We've got to go!" she shouted as she started to run to his SUV.

"Carly, hold on!" he shouted as he followed her. Once he reached her she had already made it to his car. "Damn, you seriously should consider doing some sort of sport or something." he said panting.

"Give me your cell phone, please!" she demanded.

"Why, don't you have a cell phone of your own?" he asked.

"No, now hand it over, big boy." she demanded as she stretched out her hand.

"Here." he said as he put the cell phone in her hand.

"Thanks." she mumbled as she flipped it open to find that it had ran out of battery. "Fuck." she muttered as she handed him his cell back. "Next time you go out, make sure your phone's battery is full."

"Sorry." he mumbled as he opened the car's doors. They quickly got in, then he started to drive.

"My mom's going to be pissed." Carly said.

"Sorry, I lost track of time too. I'll just go with you, and explain to your mom what happened. I'm sure she'll understand." he said calmly as he looked at her and smiled. As she smiled back, he noticed something poking out of her back pack next to her feet. It looked almost like a piece of wood or something. "Hey, what's that?" he asked curiously as he pointed to it.

She turned her head to what he was pointing to. "Oh." she said as she took it out. "Don't you recognize it?" she asked quirking her head to one side innocently.

He studied it for a few moments, then he realized that this was his old skateboard that he had given to her right before she left. "Oh my, you've got to be kidding me? Is that my old skateboard? Do you still ride it? I can't believe you even have it still." he said smiling.

"Actually, I do ride it still." she said confidently.

He looked at her in surprise.

"Did you think that I would forget so easily? I still remember all the tricks you taught me, and then some." she said smiling.

"Wow, you have to show me one day." he said smiling at her.

She smiled back and looked out the window. Then suddenly, her smile looked as if it had been smacked off her face as she frowned. "My father should be with my mother." she said.

"What?" he asked a little confused.

"My father should never have left my mother. He should be with her, instead of being in North Carolina with Louise, the woman he left my mother for. He should be here with us." she answered sadly.

"How was the divorce?" he asked.

"It was quick, sad, painful, and stupid. My dad was stupid. He was stupid for leaving my mother, he was stupid for leaving Dakota, he was stupid for leaving his life, and he was stupid for leaving me." she said bitterly.

"My mom is at home, alone, worrying about me with a two year old toddler sitting next to her. My dad should be there waiting with her, to tell her that everything's fine, and that I'm fine. He should be there waiting for me, too. I don't care how much trouble I'm in, it's kind of sick and twisted, but I wish he was here to yell at me and ground me. I wish he was just here, but I don't want him here at the same time. He abandoned us." she said angrily.

"You know when we were still living in North Carolina, he saw me and Dakota once a week for two months after the divorce. He saw us on Sunday, and for one day I felt like he cared. Then, one morning I saw him and Louise in bed having sex. He's like 50-years-old and she's like 30-years-old. It was beyond gross and disgusting, but strangely, at that moment, I realized that he didn't care or love us anymore. I mean, if he cared so much, why would he have left us. So, I begged my mom to not see him anymore. He didn't even fight for us, he just nodded and signed some papers. I didn't see him for almost three months, until I had to say good-bye. I miss him and I hate him." she said as her voice became shaky and her eyes started to water.

Logan grabbed and squeezed her hand in comfort. "Your dad turned into a major ass. Is this some kind of disease being spread upon the 09er dads so they become heartless, psychotic assholes?" he asked trying to lighten the mood.

"I wish." she mumbled as one tear slid down her cheek.

Once they got to the Neptune Grand they both sat in the car which was he parked in the parking garage.

"Carly, we can't sit here forever." he said staring at her.

"Yeah, well how does a few hours sound?" she asked.

"Carly, get out of my car." he said as he opened his car door to get out.

Carly sighed as she pulled her back pack over her shoulder and got out, too. After he locked his car, they walked to the lobby in silence. "You've really matured." Logan blurted out as they made their way to the lobby where the elevators were in.

"What? Did you just say that I matured?" Carly asked.

"I mean, you've become a really beautiful girl, inside and out." he answered casually as he walked in front of her.

"Well, thank you." she said as she followed right behind him.

"Do you think your mom's going to be mad?" he asked as they made their way into the main lobby and walked toward the elevators.

"Yeah, she's been through a lot and ever since Cecilia died, she's been overprotective of me. I understand, though." she answered as she pressed the button for the elevator to go up.

"Well, I can't wait until you're living next door, again. Hey do you know if your room is on the first floor, still?" he asked curiously as the elevator doors opened and they both got in.

Carly pressed the button to the pentehouse floor at the top of the building.

"And, why Mr. Echolls, do you want to know that information?" she asked playfully.

"Well, I need to know whether or not I can sneak into your room and kidnap you during the night? You know, just the usual." he answered smirking.

"Oh, I seriously don't want to know what you plan on doing with me!" she said in mock offense.

"Well, we just have to wait and see, don't we?" he said winking.

"As far as I know, my room's on the first floor still." she said winking back.

Logan smiled and shook his head. "I'm so proud, you're not a prude!" he said as he put his hands in the air as he pretended to praise god.

Carly laughed as the elevator stopped.

"Carly, let me explain to your mom." Logan said as the elevator doors opened and they got off.

"Okay." she said as they walked down the hallway.

Once they made it to the door of her pentehouse, she pulled the card key out of her back pocket and hesitantly slid it through the card lock. The little red light on the card lock turned green and the door was open. She shakily turned the knob and entered the spacious pentehouse, with Logan right behind, to find her mother on the phone, screaming and rambling.

"Look, I can't find my daughter! She was supposed to come home right after school! She took the bus! She wouldn't run away! She has to be missing for twenty-four hours, before I can file a missing person's case? Yeah, thanks a lot!" Julia Hayes said turning the portable phone off, and throwing it on the couch angrily.

"Mom." Carly said hesitantly. Julia looked up to see Carly and Logan standing there.

"Carly! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Julia asked worriedly as she hugged Carly tightly.

"Mom, I'm fine." she answered.

"Good, now where the hell have you been?" Julia asked angrily as her gaze finally fell on Logan. She looked at him from head to toe. "Logan?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, Mrs. Hayes, it's me." he said smiling weakly.

"Logan, will you explain to me why my daughter is out with you all day without calling to let me know." Julia said folding her arms in front of her chest.

"Look Mrs. Hayes..." Logan started before Carly interrupted him. "Mom, it wasn't his fault. I saw him today at school, and I suggested we should catch up and stuff. So, afterschool, we went to the movies, to dinner, and to the beach, then I realized how late I was... and... and... I'm so sorry, mom." Carly said pleadingly.

"Carly, go to your room, we'll talk about this later." Julia said rubbing her forehead in frustration.

"But..." Carly started.

"Now!" Julia demanded.

"Okay, bye Logan." Carly said as she looked at him sadly.

"Bye. I'll see you tomorrow at school." he said. As Carly started to walk to her temporary room that she shared with Dakota, she looked over her shoulder to take a final glance at Logan. She shot him a weak smile before she disappeared down the small hall.

"Well, um... good-night Mrs. H. Sorry that tonight got out of hand." he mumbled as he started for the door.

"Logan, wait." Julia said.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Logan, can we talk, I promise this isn't going to take long." she said motioning for him to follow her to the couch.

"Sure." he said as he took a seat on the couch.

"Thank you, Logan. Look, I'm sorry about Lynn. Your mother and I were best friends since we were young adults. I miss her, a lot." she said sadly.

"Mrs. Hayes, it's okay. I know that this is about missing my mom's funeral and all. She knows that you loved her like a sister. The funeral and the reception wasn't all that great anyway. So, I doubt you missed much." he said as he smiled weakly.

"Logan, I understand you and Carly are close. I understand she confides in you, and she thinks she understands you. You and her are very close, and I respect that. I'm not the person to believe all the hoopla that goes on in the tabloids. I just, after all the press you and your family have gotten the past year, what happened with you, yourfather, and everyone. It's just that nobody knows the truth to some things, and I think when the truth comes out, I don't want Carly to be disappointed with the outcome. She's been through a lot, and I know that you have too. I just don't want anyone to get hurt, physically or emotionally." she said staring at him.

"Mrs. Hayes..." he started.

"Logan, I know people in Neptune don't like you right now. They say that you killed that boy, Felix, on the bridge. I don't want to believe it, and neither does Carly, but you've been psyically attacked, also. They want you dead, and burning in hell for a crime that you may or may not have committed. I'm not saying that you and Carly can't hang out, I'm just saying that I want you two to be careful. That's all I wanted to tell you, Logan." she said.

"Okay, don't worry Mrs.Hayes, I'll make sure that we're fine." he said getting up.

"Oh and Logan?" she asked as she got up too.

"Yeah, Mrs. Hayes?" he asked.

"The next time you and Carly go out, please make sure to bring her home before eight." she said smiling.

"Yes, Mrs. Hayes." he said smiling.

"Oh and Logan, I've known you ever since you were in your mother's womb, please start calling me Julia." she said.

"Okay, thanks... Julia." he said smiling as he escorted himself out of the pentehouse.

After the door shut, Julia sighed as she plopped onto the couch. She looked at one of the boxes that had arrived that day. She had made sure that this box was sent to her earlier than the rest of their stuff. She looked inside and saw a picture of her and Mark on their wedding day. She touched the frame gently as if it was going to shatter or disappear. She was so young, only 21-years-old when she married him. He was much older, 28-years-old. He was helping his mother run Hayes Cosmetics when they met. They had fallen in love so quickly. Julia thought that his eyes were what had caught her attention. He had deep blue/green eyes, chocolate brown hair, fair skin, and a cute smirk. She had loved him from the moment they had met, but she didn't anymore. She swore she didn't anymore.

He was now in North Carolina with his girlfriend, Louise Scott. Louise Scott was a 30-year-old brown eyed beauty from Missouri. She was a former Hayes Cosmetics model, but now she was practically the queen of the company. She was nice and friendly, but Julia just couldn't help but hate her. She had stolen her husband and her life. All she had now was her daughter, her granddaughter, and the Neptune branch of Hayes Cosmetics. She knew that she would be okay, but she was unsure of Carly. Now that they were back in Neptune, would Carly fall in the same path as her sister? Would she have the same fate? Julia knew that she couldn't let that happen. She couldn't loose another daughter. She wouldn't loose another daughter.

Author's Notes: Thanks for all the reviews! I am eternally grateful. Hey, did anybody catch Wednesday's new episode ( Episode Six/ Rat Saw God/ November 9 )? I, personally, thought that it was awesome! Logan was so snarky and hot! Ha! Logan's staying at Donut's ( Duncan ) place! Yay, now I hopefully don't have to see V/D making out and having sex everytime they're together! It killed me inside when I saw his house on fire, though! Poor little rich boy! Don't you just want to hug him, too? I feel like such an awful person because I thought that Logan's revenge on Weevil was just an eye for an eye. I thought that Logan was being such a babe. I know, I'm shameless! I'm seriously worried about my own well being and sanity. Is Logan's eternal hotness clouding my judgement? Is it alright to say that Logan's so cute when he's being an obnoxious jackass to Veronica and company? When did I start contemplating Veronica's status on the show? When did I start writing the word love, L-o-V-e? When did I start writing threatening letters to Rob Thomas? Why Veronica and Duncan, it's kind of gross? Why am I asking you this? I think I need a break and a hot fudge sundae. Also, Veronica will hopefully make her long-awaited appearence next chapter.

Ally


	8. Chapter 8: One Month

Title: Home Sweet Home

Author: SWChick57

Pairing/Character: Logan/OC Friendship, LoVe eventually, a littleV/D, Beaver/OC, Ensemble

Word Count: 2,378

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Carly Hayes is a freshman at Neptune High, and she's an old friend of the Echolls Family. Slight AU. Season 2.

Disclaimer: I do not own Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas does. Though I wish I owned Logan… Oh well!

_July 3, 2002_

_"Jeremy, what the hell is your problem?" a 17-year-old Cecilia Hayes shouted loudly._

_"Oh, your talking about me having a problem? What the hell is your problem, Cecilia? I thought that we were going to spend the Fourth of July together with Adam, Heather, and Jay! I mean, I thought Heather was your best friend!" Cecilia's boyfriend, Jeremy Maran, said loudly._

_Jeremy Maran was the typical, good looking 17-year-old basketball star. He was also Cecilia Hayes' boyfriend. He had brown hair, blue eyes, and beige skin. While he was 6 foot 2 inches, Cecilia was only 5 foot 4 inches. He was practically a shoe in for a basketball scholarship. They were now arguing on her driveway._

_"Well, I told Heather the same thing that I told you! I told her that I was going to spend the Fourth of July supervising my little sister, Carly, and my neighbor, Logan! They need a chaperone and I said that I'd be with them. Come on, Jeremy, can't you understand?" she asked._

_"Yeah, I do, but we planned this weeks in advance! Why are you bailing on us now, why are you bailing on me now?" he asked angrily._

_"I'm not bailing on anybody, Jeremy, please. I can't say no to my parents, and disappoint Carly and Logan. You'll have Adam, Heather, and Jay, anyway, so what's the problem?" she asked._

_"The problem is that I wanted to spend the Fourth of July with my girlfriend and my friends." he answered._

_"Well, we can all hang out some other time. Jeremy, I've never really asked for anything, and I'm just asking for this." she said pleadingly._

_"Okay, fine." he said relunctantly._

_"Okay, now I've got to go. I'll talk to you later or something." she said as she stared at her shoes._

_"Yeah, whatever." he said as he started walking toward his car. Cecilia watched as he got into his red Ford pickup truck and sped away._

_As she turned around, she bumped into non other than Logan Echolls._

_"Hey Cecilia, have you seen Carly? She wants to talk about tomorrow or something." he said smiling._

_"She went shopping with our mom, she'll be back soon." she said sadly._

_"Cecilia, what's wrong?" he asked worriedly._

_"I just got in another fight with Jeremy, nothing big." she said smiling weakly._

_"Are you sure?" he asked._

_"Yeah, I am." she said looking at the ground._

_"You know that I'm always here, right? You know that I'll be here for you. You might not realize it or anything, but I am a 14-year-old, now. I'm a great listener, whenever you need one." he said smiling as he lifted her chin._

_Cecilia had noticed Logan's growth spurt and his new mature facial features. He almost looked like a 16-year-old, rather than a naive 14-year-old. He looked rather handsome._

_She smiled as he pulled her in for a hug. "Thanks, Logan, sometimes I forget that your not that annoying 11-year-old, anymore." she said hugging him tighter._

_"Sometimes I do, too." he whispered._

_Unknown to both of them that Jeremy was watching from across the street. He had driven back to talk to Cecilia and had seen the whole exchange._

Present

"Carly, could you get that?" Julia Hayes yelled from the shower, as someone was knocking on their door.

"Okay, mom." Carly yelled back with a very energetic Dakota in her arms. As she made her way through the clutter she finally made it to the door. As she opened it, she saw Logan Echolls standing there with his back turned to her.

"Hey, sorry to break the bad news, but stalker hours ended at sunrise." she said smirking as he quickly turned around.

"Oh shoot, hey what about mass serial murderers?" he asked.

"I don't think that they have particular hours of the day, so, why are you here so early, Logan?" she asked curiously.

"I'm just here to drive you to school." he answered smiling.

"How did you..." she started.

"I sort of figured." he cut in.

"Well, then, that means that your welcome to come in." she said as she moved out of the way to let him pass.

"Thanks, Care Bear." he said as he entered.

"You can sit here while I finish cleaning." she said as she motioned for him to sit in one of the chairs in the small kitchen area.

As she put Dakota down in her high-chair, Logan took a seat across from Dakota. He started to stare at Dakota intently.

Carly quickly saw him staring at Dakota and decided that it was time for them to meet.

"I guess this is the infamous Dakota Lorraine Hayes." he said smiling.

"Yeah, it is." Carly said. "Dakota..." she whispered into Dakota's ear as she kneeled next to her.

"Mmm..." was the only sound Dakota made as she stared at Logan.

"This is your Auntie Car's friend, Logan Echolls." Carly said.

"Lolo?" Dakota asked questioningly.

"Yeah, I guess you can call him that." she said smiling. Logan smiled at Dakota, and she smiled back playfully.

"I think she likes you." Carly said as she started cleaning up Dakota's left-over food.

"Well, I like her, too." Logan said as he touched Dakota's nose.

Dakota giggled and playfully grabbed Logan's finger. Logan smiled and continued to play with Dakota as Carly continued to clean up.

"You can hold her, if you want." Carly said suddenly.

"Okay, are you sure?" he asked worriedly.

"Logan, it's fine." Carly answered smiling.

"Okay." Logan said nervously as he picked up Dakota and started to hold the beautiful, green eyed, 2-year-old in his arms. Dakota grabbed Logan's face with her tiny hands and stared him in the eye. He playfully stared back.

"Lolo." she said giggling.

"Yeah, Dakota, I'm Lolo." he said smiling.

"Honey, did you... get... that." Julia trailed as she stared at Logan who was holding Dakota. "Hello, Logan." she said smiling.

"Hi Mrs. Hay... I mean, Julia." he stammered.

"Hi mom, Logan just came over to take me to school." Carly said as she finished cleaning up.

"Okay, well you two better go, you don't want to be late. Logan, you can just hand Dakota to me." Julia said smiling as she extended her arms.

"Oh, okay." he said handing Dakota to Julia. Dakota whimpered and started crying. "Lolo, I want Lolo!" she screeched.

"I think somebody likes you!" Julia said as she tried to soothe Dakota.

Logan smiled and said, "That makes five."

"Bye mom." Carly said as she picked up her stuff.

"Bye Carly. Logan, bring her back home before eight." Julia said.

"Will do, bye Julia." he said as he and Carly walked out the door.

"You really are going to drive me to and from school?" Carly asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, I sure am, bud. Whenever you need a ride, just ask. Plus, you're going to be living next door soon, so there's really no difference, right?" he asked as they walked to the elevators.

"Right." she said smiling.

"So, what did your mom say last night after I left? It's apparent that she didn't ground you or anything." he said.

"She said to never scare her like that again, and she also realized that I didn't have a cell phone. So, we're going to buy me a cell phone this weekend. She also said that one more stunt and I'm going to know what a real grounding is." she said as they made it to the elevators.

They finally made it to school and went their seperate ways to their lockers.

As Carly walked to her locker, she heard a familiar voice calling her name.

"Carly!" the voice called.

She turned around to see that it was Beaver Casablancas.

"Cassidy, what can I do for you this fine morning?" she asked as they walked together.

"Nothing, just walk with me." he said as he smiled weakly. He looked rather nervous and jittery.

"Cassidy, are you okay?" she asked a little confused by his strange behavior.

"Yeah, I just don't feel that well. I'm fine, though." he answered.

"Are you sure? If you don't feel well, you should go home or something." she said as they reached her locker.

"No, I'm fine. So, how are you?" he asked gritting his teeth.

"I'm super, how are you?" she asked sarcastically as she opened her locker.

"Same, I guess. So, I heard you went out with Logan last night." he said, a bit of jealousy apparent in his voice.

"Yeah, I did, why?" she asked as she prepared for her next classes.

"I just wanted to know." he answered. 'You can't keep her if you don't sleep with her, if you don't, you know Logan will.' Beaver thought as he tried to shake the words Dick had told him out of his head.

"Cass, are you jealous?" she asked.

"No, why?" he asked defensively.

"Because you're acting really paranoid about me and Logan. We're just friends, he's like my brother." she said as she shut her locker close.

"Carly, I'm not jealous." he said looking her in the eyes.

"Okay, I just wanted to know." she said as she smiled weakly. "Well, I've got to go to class. I'll see you at lunch." she said as she started to walk to her homeroom.

"Okay, bye Carly." he said as he started heading to his own class.

Carly glanced over her shoulder to look at Beaver one more time. As she turned her head around she bumped into a familiar tiny blonde girl.

"Oh, sorry, Veronica." Carly said sheepishly.

"It's okay." Veronica said sweetly.

Carly smiled and Veronica said, "So, I hear you and Logan are best pals, again."

"Yeah, I guess news spreads fast. Well yesterday I forgot to congratulate you. I can't believe you're dating Duncan Kane, again. Bravo." Carly said sarcastically.

"Oh, so Logan told you, huh?" Veronica asked akwardly.

"Yeah, he told me about you and him and you and Duncan." Carly said quietly.

"Logan and I have a rough history." she said.

"Yeah, he told me. You accused him of stealing, rape, murder, I mean, come on, Veronica, whats next?" Carly asked sarcastically.

"Carly, you don't understand..." Veronica started.

"I don't understand how you could just dump Logan like that. If you truly loved someone, then why would you just leave him hanging." Carly said.

"Carly, Logan's been on self destruct mode for a long time. I was just fed up with him and his antics. I mean all his revenge on Weevil and the PCHers, he just wouldn't let go and let things get back to normal. Even after I broke up with him he got worse." Veronica explained.

"What do you mean, worse? What revenge on Weevil and the PCHers? Aren't those the guys who beat him up on the bridge? A couple rolls of toilet paper and spray paint isn't something to be worried about, I guess. Plus, I've seen him and talked to him, he seems okay to me." she said.

"Aren't you a little worried about his behavior? I mean with Kend..." Veronica started before she realized that Carly seriously didn't know what Logan had done before she had returned to Neptune.

"What were you going to say, Veronica?" Carly asked.

"Nothing, look Carly, I don't want to get into a whole discussion about Logan and me. I sincerely think that you and I can be good friends. I've got to go, I'll talk to you later." Veronica said smiling.

"Okay, I don't want to pick a fight with you Veronica. I like you, you seem like a sincere, decent person. I just care about Logan." Carly said.

"I know." Veronica said as she started to walk the other direction. She started to look for Logan and when she finally spotted him, she grabbed his arm and pulled him into the girls' bathroom.

"What the hell?" he shouted angrily. He finally saw that it was Veronica who pulled him into the girls' room. "Oh Veronica, don't you know this is in public? I don't do quickies with ex-girlfriends, it's just not my style." he said smirking.

Veronica looked under the stalls and secured the door closed before she asked angrily, "So, I take it that Carly doesn't know about your dirty deeds, huh?"

"What are you talking about, Mars?" he asked.

"I'm talking about Carly not knowing what you've done the past year. Don't you think she deserves to know? I mean, there's the burning of community pools, screwing around with 09er stepmoms, and much more that I don't really want to say right now." she said angrily.

"Whatever, Ver-on-i-ca, I don't really give a shit, now good-bye, ma'am." he said as he saluted her and started for the bathroom door.

"Logan, I'm going to give you one month to tell her. If you don't, then I or somebody else probably will." she said bitterly as she folded her arms over her chest.

Logan paused with his hand on the doorknob and said quietly, "Thanks for the warning, Mars. I appreciate the sympathy." Once he finished the last sentence, he threw the door open and walked out. Veronica just sighed as she was left standing there in frustration.

Author's Notes: Thank you for reading! Yay, Veronica's back in action! Just as a preview for the chapters to come, expect some drama, romance, angst, and everything in between! Stay tuned, the story's only beginning...

Ally


	9. Chapter 9: Confusion

Title: Home Sweet Home

Author: Modern-Insomniac1138

Pairing/Character: Logan/OC Friendship, LoVe eventually, a littleV/D, Beaver/OC, Ensemble

Word Count: 3,710

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Carly Hayes is a freshman at Neptune High, and she's an old friend of the Echolls Family. Slight AU. Season 2.

Disclaimer: I do not own Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas does. Though I wish I owned Logan… Oh well!

_July 4, 2005  
_

_"That was so cool! We have to go on another boat ride next year or something!" Carly Hayes exclaimed happily as Logan Echolls carefully maneuvered the boat safely to the dock.  
_

_"See, Cecilia, I told you that I could steer the boat safely without anyone drowning, dying, getting seasick, or loosing an important limb or organ." Logan Echolls said smugly as he turned the boat's engine off.  
_

_"Yeah, I was more worried about the fact that I had let a 14-year-old kid steer a boat to and from the dock. I must be out of my mind. Hey, aren't you supposed to have like a "boating license" or something? Isn't this illegal?" Cecilia Hayes asked worriedly.  
_

_"I don't know." Logan answered as he and Carly tied the boat to the dock.  
_

_"What do you mean, "I don't know." Are you saying that what we did was illegal?" Cecilia asked incredulously.  
_

_"No, I just meant that I have no clue whether it was illegal or not. I really don't care anyway, if we had gotten caught, I would have just blamed you. You are the oldest." Logan said smirking.  
_

_"You asshole." Cecilia said as she punched him in the arm._

_"Hey, watch it! This is my good arm." Logan said as he rubbed his arm in pain.  
_

_"Yeah, well serves you right. Carly, please don't pick Logan as your role model." Cecilia said as she patted Carly on the head.  
_

_"I seriously don't get why people do that." Carly said shaking her head as she sat down in the seating area of the boat.  
_

_"Hey, I can't help it that Carly likes me better than you." Logan said as he sat down beside Carly.  
_

_"Ha, ha, that hit me right here." Cecilia said sarcastically as she pointed mockingly to her heart.  
_

_"I know it did, sweetheart." Logan said smirking.  
_

_"So, what time is it? Is it going to be sunset soon?" Carly asked eagerly.  
_

_"Hm... six o'clock, I think." Logan answered looking at his watch in slight confusion.  
_

_"How the hell did you pass the second grade?" Cecilia asked.  
_

_"Oh wouldn't you like to know." Logan said winking.  
_

_"Ugh, perv." Cecilia said disgusted as she sat down across from him.  
_

_"Proud of it, honey bunch. So, Carly what did you think of my role as captain today?" he asked smiling.  
_

_"I was actually pretty surprised. I honestly thought that you'd suck." Carly answered.  
_

_"Thanks for having faith in me, Care Bear." he said sarcastically.  
_

_"Well, it was fun. It was so cool. You did an excellent job." Carly said smiling.  
_

_"Ditto." Cecilia piped in.  
_

_"Thank you for the roaring applause, folks! I'll be here all night!" he shouted mockingly.  
_

_"Yeah, well, it looks like the sun's setting." Cecilia said as she pointed to the sky. They looked up in awe at the beautiful site.  
_

_"Wow, I never knew that the sunset could be so cool." Carly said.  
_

_"Yeah, now I can honestly say to my math teacher that having my head in the clouds is a good thing." Logan said.  
_

_"I thought your math teacher told you to get your head out of the gutter?" Cecilia asked.  
_

_"Yeah, that too." he answered.  
_

_"Hey, are you sure that we're safe out here?" Cecilia asked.  
_

_"Yeah, mom, we're fine." Logan answered.  
_

_Carly giggled and Cecilia glared at Logan. "What? I can't help that I'm so darn witty!" he said smiling.  
_

_"Shut up." Cecilia said flatly.  
_

_"Hm... aren't we a little snippy today?" Logan said playfully as he quirked an eyebrow.  
_

_Cecilia smiled in sarcasim as she went to get a drink at the boat's cabin.  
_

_"You know I can see you and Cecilia in twenty years still talking smack to each other." Carly said.  
_

_"Good to know." he said smiling.  
_

_"You know you could lay off a couple comments tonight, though. I mean she broke her date with Jeremy just to come with us. You should be giving her a fruit basket or something because if she hadn't come with us, we wouldn't have gone." Carly said.  
_

_"What? Are you serious?" Logan asked a little confused.  
_

_"Yeah, that's the honest truth. Jeremy is like majorly pissed off at her, too. She told me that they got into an argument yesterday while me and my mom were shopping. I kind of thought they would be together forever, but now that senior year is rolling in, it doesn't really look that way. Cecilia told me that Jeremy is probably going to break up with her. I'm just saying that you should keep your snark level down to a minimum, she's going through a tough time." Carly said as she continued to look up at the sky for any fireworks.  
_

_"Wow." Logan whispered to himself.  
_

_"Yes! We have fireworks!" Carly exclaimed excitedly. "Cecilia! Cecilia! The fireworks are starting!" she called out.  
_

_"Coming!" Cecilia shouted. A few minutes later she emerged out of the boat's cabin with blankets, apple cider, three cups, and a platter of cookies. "Hey, I thought you guys would get hungry or something. I can't imagine, though. I mean, you two practically ate everything in that picnic basket!" she said smiling as she set everything down on the table.  
_

_"Thanks." Logan mumbled as he continued to watch the fireworks.  
_

Present/One Month Later/ December 7

"Bye mom!" Carly Hayes yelled as she ran out of the door. She smiled at the sight of the yellow XTerra in front of her with Logan Echolls leaning on lazily on it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Carly Hayes has arrived!" Logan exclaimed smirking. It had been a month since Carly moved to Neptune, and it had been three weeks since she moved back into her old house right next door to Logan. Logan started driving Carly to and from school from Mondays through Wednesdays. On Thursdays, her mom was able to take her to and from school. On Fridays, she would hang out with Beaver. Her and Beaver became really good friends, and they were lunch buddies, too. She didn't have any friends in her own classes and grade, though. Everyone was sort of intimidated by her, but most of all, they were intimidated by Logan.

"Aw, I think that we have our perfect routine planned out, Logan." she said smiling as he opened the car door for her. She carefully slid inside and he said, "That'll be ten bucks, ma'am."

"Jerk." she said as he closed the door and ran over to the other side to get in. "So, where would you like me to take you madam?" he asked in his best French accent.

"How about school?" she asked sarcastically.

"I was just kidding." he said in mock defense as he started the car and started driving.

"You always are." she mumbled to herself.

"Wow, you look smashing this morning." he said as he took a quick glance at her.

"Thanks, now what do you want?" she asked suspiciously.

"Is it such a crime to tell my favorite neighbor how wonderful she looks in the morning?" Logan answered.

"No, but I bet it does have to do with Christmas, and what I got you." she said.

"Fine, I was going to make you tell me what you got me for Christmas." he confessed.

"Hm... sorry, can't tell you." she said as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Come on, please." he said making a cute puppy dog face.

"Please stop that." she said.

"Why should I? If it works, it works." he said smiling.

"Well then, can you tell me about what you got me for Christmas?" she asked.

"I already told you that I was going to give you a little surprise on Christmas Eve. So just come to my house around eight or nine, and you'll get your present." he answered.

"It's nothing sexual, right?" she asked.

"Why, do you want it to be?" he asked playfully as he winked at her.

"That's just disgusting." she said.

"Well, you don't have to worry, it's just going to be a clean version of Christmas with Logan." he said.

"Good." she said sighing as they made it to Neptune High.

"So Beav, tell me about your progress with Carly?" Dick Casablancas asked as he turned off his car's engine.

"We're friends." Beaver Casablancas mumbled as he stared at his shoes.

"Just friends? God, you're such a pussy! Ask her out! Make the first move!" Dick shouted loudly.

"Dick, I just don't know if…" Beaver started.

"Oh my god, don't tell me that you grew a fucking heart! Remember our little bet? I practically told everyone that my little brother was actually going to score a virgin." Dick said in disbelief.

Dick had managed to tell all the 09ers, except for Logan and Duncan, about their bet. They did't tell Duncan because they knew that he would probably blab it to Veronica Mars, who they didn't want to get into odds with. They didn't tell Logan because they knew that if he knew that they were planning on deflowering his precious Carly Hayes, he would kill them all and hide the bodies. Beaver knew that if he didn't do it with her, nobody would ever let him live it down.

"Fine, I'll ask her out." Beaver said quietly.

"Come on, Beav, Christmas is just around the corner. I hope you let her know what you want as your present." Dick said smirking as he got out of the car. Beaver reluctantly did the same.

As they both went their separate ways to their lockers, Beaver spotted Carly. He took and a deep breathe and smiled. "Hey, Carly!" Beaver said happily as he caught up to her.

"Hey Cass, what's up with you? You seem really happy, did your new issue of Playboy come in today?" she asked.

Beaver laughed and answered, "No, I was just wondering if you're free this Friday?"

"Yeah, I always am, you know that. So where do you want to go this week? Beach, movies, dinner, mall..." Carly started.

"No, not like that, I was wondering if you want to go on a date with me. I mean a real date." he said as he smiled weakly.

Carly stood there a little dumbfounded by his proposal. She thought about it for a moment. This was Cassidy "Beaver" Casablancas. He was practically one of her only friends in Neptune. She didn't want to ruin their good relationship, but she couldn't pass up an opportunity like this.

In just one month, she had felt as if they had known each other for a lifetime. They had met before when she was young, but this time it felt different. She had grown complicated feelings toward Beaver. She was starting to like him in a weird, girly way. This wasn't the normal Carly Hayes.

"Sure, that sounds great." she said smiling.

Beaver smiled and asked, "How does dinner in some snooty restaurant sound?"

"Hm... how does dinner in a nice, cozy, romantic Italian restaurant and then after we can hang out in a nice empty house and watch a movie?" she asked smiling.

Beaver gulped at the last proposal. This could be his chance. "Oh, okay. I'll pick you up on Friday at 6 o'clock." he croaked out nervously.

"Great, I'll bring Trainspotting, it's my favorite movie. I sort of have this thing for Ewan McGregor. You know that accent just puts me over the edge." she said smiling.

"That's nice." he managed to say.

"Okay, here's my locker, I'll talk to you at lunch. Bye." she said as they reached her locker.

"Bye." he said as he started to walk away. He couldn't believe that his opportunity had arrived to him on a silver platter. He knew that they had only known each other for a month, but he couldn't believe how fast the opportunity had come. He honestly liked Carly, but he couldn't let his brother down.

Once it was lunchtime, Carly headed over to her usual table to meet Beaver, but much to her surprise, she was early. She sat down and started to eat her lunch.

"I seriously don't know why you watch Fear Factor! It's gross, disgusting, and downright stupid." Veronica Mars said as she walked with her best friend, Wallace Fennel, to their usual table.

"Yeah, I know it's plain gross and stupid, but it's so funny to see those skinny white guys eating live scorpions for a million bucks. That my friend, is what I call, true entertainment." he said smiling.

"Come on, Wallace, I think that Fear Factor is just a waste of time. I mean people risking their lives for money? I don't think the idea appeals to me that much. I'll start watching when I see Madison Sinclair eating cow intestines." Veronica said smiling as she spotted Carly. "Hey, I'll catch up with you later." she said.

"What? You're gonna bail on me, again?" he asked in disbelief.

"Wallace, I'm not bailing, I'm merely going to talk to a lonely friend. I'm socializing, isn't that supposed to be a good thing?" she asked innocently. He looked over to who Veronica was staring at.

"Not when that friend is Carly Hayes. Are you going to bud into her business, now? I mean, damn girl, that chick's been through hell! Everybody in school knows who she is and her story. She's just as famous as her friend, Logan. Wait a minute, is this about Logan?" he asked.

"Of course not, now bye." she said as she started over to where Carly was.

"Someone's got to get that girl a labotomy for Christmas." Wallace mumbled to himself as he made his way to a table.

"Hi Carly, mind if I sit here?" Veronica asked.

Carly looked up and answered smiling, "Sure, be my guest."

"Thanks." Veronica said as she took a seat across from Carly.

"So, what's up?" Carly asked as she took a sip of water out of her water bottle.

"Nothing really. So, how are you? I mean, I haven't seen or talked to you in ages!" Veronica said.

"I'm fine. My family and I just moved back into our old house." Carly said.

"Well, congratulations. How does it feel to be a full fledged resident of Neptune once again?" Veronica asked.

"It's a little weird. I mean I've been trying finding all my old friends, but they're practically untracable. I think they moved or something." Carly said.

"Well, my dad's a private investigator, if you want to find somebody or find something out, I'm sure he can help." Veronica said.

"It's okay, but thanks for the offer, anyway." Carly said as she smiled weakly.

"Well, if you ever need a P.I., just call me." Veronica said smiling.

"Thanks. Look, I've been meaning to ask you something." Carly started.

"Go ahead, ask away!" Veronica said as she motioned for her to continue.

"Well, if you don't want to answer what I'm about to ask you, it's totally fine. I'll understand, I just wanted to know why exactly you broke up with Logan. I mean, I heard Logan's version, but I want to hear yours. Just call me curious." Carly said.

Veronica sighed and said, "I broke up with Logan because of his antics."

"Oh, I think you explained a little bit before, but I just don't understand. I mean, what did he do that was so wrong? Why couldn't you just trust him? Why don't you trust him now?" Carly asked.

"What exactly did Logan tell you?" Veronica asked suspiciously.

"He told me that you broke up with him for no reason. He told me that you didn't trust him or anything." Carly answered.

Veronica clenched her jaw and asked, "Is that all Logan told you? Did he tell you everything about Weevil, Kendall, or..."

"Kendall? What about Kendall? That's Cassidy's stepmom, what would he have to tell me about her?" Carly asked puzzled.

"Nothing, I've got to go. I just remembered that I needed to see someone." Veronica said as she threw her bag over her shoulder and got up from where she was sitting.

"Okay, bye." Carly said as Veronica started to walk away. "Wait, Veronica!" she called out.

Veronica turned around and Carly asked, "Do you still love him?"

"Carly, I..." Veronica started before Beaver interrupted.

"Hey Veronica." he said taking a seat next to Carly.

"Hi Beav... Cassidy." she said smiling.

"I guess, we'll save the answer for another time." Carly said as she waved good-bye to Veronica.

Veronica weakly smiled back as she walked toward the school building. She had to have a chat with Logan Echolls.

As Logan walked to his locker a familiar tiny blonde girl pulled him into the girls' bathroom.

"What the hell, Veronica? You know, I think you just love the whole kinky "bathroom thing"." he said smirking.

"Ha, ha, my bitter ex-boyfriend just made a joke. Bravo, look, I just wanted to know why you haven't told Carly anything, yet." she said folding her arms over her chest.

"What in god's name are you rambling about this time? Huh?" he asked.

"I want to know why you haven't shown your true colors to Carly. She does have a right to know that her neighbor and friend is a sleazy jackass." she said.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked angrily.

"I'm talking about your misadventures and your sex escapades with Kendall." she answered gritting her teeth.

"Oh, I remember. Well, well, well, aren't you Santa's little helper? What? You think that you're going to tell Carly and you'll be the hero? Are you going to be her guardian angel? Wow, where's the music when you need it? Praise the Lord, here's Saint Veronica to the rescue." he said sarcastically as he started walking to the door.

Veronica swiftly ran in front of him, blocking his only exit.

"Move, Veronica." he demanded.

"No, I just talked to Carly, thinking that you told her everything in your skeleton filled closet, and she looks at me like I'm crazy. She doesn't even know about you and Kendall. She just waved it off saying that Kendall was Beaver's stepmom. Did you think you could hide everything from her?" she asked in disbelief.

"Whatever." he said as he tried to walk past her.

"No, not whatever. I thought that in your month with Carly, you could've at least mentioned it." she said stepping in front of him, her back on the door.

"Veronica, get out of the way. The bell's going to ring soon." he said fiercely as he looked into her eyes.

"Are you ever going to tell her the truth?" she asked.

"What truth? The past is the past. She doesn't care." he reasoned.

"But she should at least know." she said.

"I don't want her to know." he said trying to reach for the doorknob.

"Logan, just tell her. You know she'll be mad at you more, if you don't tell her. What happens if Beaver slips?" she asked smacking his hand from reaching the doorknob.

"I don't fucking know, now get out of my way!" he shouted angrily.

"No, what if Beaver slips? What if other 09ers do? What then, huh? I gave you a fucking month!" she said loudly.

"Veronica..." he started as he shook his head in anger.

"Logan, answer me!" she demanded.

"I don't know! I'm scared that she'll think I'm a stupid asshole like her father, like my father, like everybody who's hurt her, if I tell her what I've done to other people. I'm fucking terrifyed if she finds out. I don't want her to look at me differently, Veronica. She's practically the only person left in Neptune who believes in me. I don't want to loose that. I don't want her to look at me in disgust and fear. Can't you just accept that? Please, Veronica." he pleaded, his face inches from hers. She looked deep into his eyes and she saw something she hadn't seen in a long time. She saw how vulnerable and sincere he was.

"Logan..." she started softly.

"Please move, Veronica, please." he said, the forcefullness in his voice replaced by a soft whisper.

"Logan..." she said as he looked into his eyes. Their eyes locked and their faces were almost centimeters away. He came closer and their lips barely touched each other before the sound of the bell ringing snapped them back into reality. Logan looked at Veronica pleadingly then left the bathroom. Veronica just stood there in shock as she let him go without a fight. A month ago she was left in the same spot in frustration, now she was left in confusion.

Author's Notes: Oh, I'm evil. Well, I've been dying to write some LoVe interaction, so for those who waited, here. I know, I know, we want them to kiss, but life isn't fair. Well, here was just a little dose of some LoVe for ya' all. I promise, there'll be more to come. Enjoy. Also, chapters will be delayed because my laptop was attacked by a vicious and stupid virus, goddamnit! Now, I'm using my dad's old, slow computer downstairs with my parents looking over my shoulder every five seconds! Doesn't it get annoying and irritating after a while? I'll keep you posted if there's any progress. Please pray for me and my precious laptop! I named it Lolo for god's sake!

Ally


	10. Chapter 10: First Date

Title: Home Sweet Home

Author: Modern-Insomniac1138

Pairing/Character: Logan/OC Friendship, LoVe eventually, a little V/D, Beaver/OC, Ensemble

Word Count: 3,680

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Carly Hayes is a freshman at Neptune High, and she's an old friend of the Echolls Family. Slight AU. Season 2.

_July 11, 2002_

_"Carly, you're doing great! I bet by the end of the summer, you're going to be an awesome skateboarder." 14-year-old Logan Echolls said smiling._

_"Thanks, Wally." Carly Hayes said sarcastically as she picked up Logan's skateboard and handed it to him. Logan took it and put it under his arm as they walked back to his house._

_"You know you deserve a really good reward. How does ice-cream sundaes sound?" he asked._

_"That sounds like a plan!" Carly said happily. Logan smiled as he looked over at Cecilia, who was slumped against her car, which was parked in the Hayes' driveway._

_"Um... Carly, I'll meet you inside in a few minutes." Logan said as he handed her his skateboard._

_"Okay, sure, just don't take too long or else I'll have to start eating all that ice-cream by myself." Carly said as she continued to his house. _

_Logan walked to wear Cecilia was and smiled. "I didn't think that they delivered." he said smirking._

_She looked up and said quietly, "Hey."_

_"Hey yourself, what are you doing here? I mean you should be doing something "fun". Where are Heather and Jeremy?" he asked as he leaned on her car next to her._

_"Heather is babysitting her little brother and Jeremy is doing god knows what." Cecilia answered bitterly._

_"Oh, well you could join me and Carly. We're going to eat ice-cream sundaes, watch a couple of movies, and hang out. Come on, Cecilia, it'll be loads of fun, fun, fun." he said smiling._

_"That sounds nice, but I think that I'll just go inside," she said sadly._

_"Now that's definitely not what I call a fun time. Are you sure?" he asked worriedly._

_"Yeah, I am." she answered._

_"Okay, look, I also wanted to say thank you for the whole Fourth of July thing. It was really cool. I mean you seriously didn't have to come with me and Carly." he said._

_"Logan, I wanted to. I had fun too, but I think that Carly had the most fun. She loves fireworks for some odd, strange reason." she said._

_Logan chuckled and said, "Yeah, I sort of figured that one out."_

_Cecilia smiled as she stared at the ground. Logan smiled and said happily, "See, that's the Cecilia Hayes I want to see." _

_Cecilia looked up and met his eyes. Their eyes locked for a few moments. Cecilia saw something in Logan's eyes that she hadn't seen before. She couldn't help but stare. He had grown so much, she had noticed. As they stared into each other's eyes, they both seemed to get lost. Cecilia then blinked and broke the stare. "You should go with Carly. She might think that you bailed on her with some cheap hussy." Cecilia said as she looked at the ground once again._

_"Yeah, I should. I'll talk to you later, Cecilia." he said as he smiled weakly._

_"Yeah, same here." she said as he started toward his house._

_She watched him as he walked away and sighed. "Cecilia, Cecilia, what the hell is going on with you? That's your 14-year-old neighbor, here. You don't have those feelings for him. He's just a friend." Cecilia whispered quietly to herself as she rubbed her forehead in frustration._

Present

"Carly, do you honestly know this Cassidy boy?" Julia Hayes asked as she entered her daughter's bedroom.

"Mom, we've been over this a hundred times! He's a nice boy, he doesn't do drugs, he doesn't drink and drive, he doesn't do anything illegal, as far as I know, and he doesn't steal candy from babies. Does that sound reassuring enough?" Carly asked sarcastically as she looked for an outfit in her closet.

"I'll be at ease when you join a convent." Julia answered.

"Like hell I will!" Carly said smiling.

It was already Friday night, which meant it was Carly's first date with Beaver. It was her first date ever.

Carly pulled out a shirt from her closet. She scrunched her nose in disapproval as she put it back in.

"Sweetie, are you having trouble finding something to wear?" Julia asked.

"Yeah, just a little." Carly answered timidly.

"Here let me help you." Julia said as she approached the closet and started sifting through clothes. She pulled out a long white skirt, a bright blue camisole, and a black cardigan.

"How does this look?" Julia asked smiling.

"It's perfect! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Carly exclaimed happily as she admired her mom's selection.

"It was my pleasure. Here you should put it on, I mean your date is supposed to be here at six and it's already five minutes after five." Julia said as she handed Carly the outfit.

"I still can't believe you have a meeting tonight! That is so unfair, I wanted you to meet Cassidy." Carly said.

"Yeah, I wanted to meet him, too. I know it's unfair, but we have to discuss product plans and our Christmas promotions. I mean Christmas is already around the corner. You know that this is the busiest time of year, Carly." Julia said.

"Yeah, I know. I'm just glad that we found ourselves a babysitter for Dakota on short notice. As much as I love Dakota, I don't want to babysit her every single night of my life." Carly said smiling. At that moment the doorbell rang.

"Oh, well speaking of our trusty babysitter. Bye sweetie, I've got to go. The meeting will start soon. Good luck tonight. Look at my baby, all grown up." Julia said as she hugged Carly.

"Bye mom thanks for the help." Carly said as they let go of each other and she headed to her bathroom to get ready.

"Your welcome, bye." Julia said as she walked out of Carly's bedroom and headed to the front door.

She opened it and smiled. "Thanks again, Logan. I'm so sorry for having you babysit Dakota on such short notice, but I had to be at this meeting." she said as she stepped aside for him to enter.

"No problem Julia, I'm just doing what good neighbors do." Logan said happily as he entered the Hayes' house.

"Well Carly and I both thank you. Okay I've got to go now, the meeting starts in ten minutes and I think that I'm going to be late. So the emergency numbers are on the kitchen table, my number is on the refrigerator door, please don't let Dakota eat any candy or else she'll be bouncing off the walls all night, there's tons of apple juice and milk in the fridge for her to drink, I already prepared her dinner ahead of time and it's in a Tupperware container, labeled Dakota's dinner, in the fridge, and have her in bed by eight. Also, please watch her at all times, she's just two-years-old." Julia said.

"You got it dude." Logan said smiling.

Julia smiled and said, "Alright then, Dakota is on the couch in the living room playing with her doll. Also, make sure Carly gets home by eleven."

"Alrighty, bye Julia." he said.

"Bye Logan." She said smiling as she exited the house.

Logan strolled to where Dakota was and picked her up playfully. "Hey Koala Bear!" he said smiling.

Dakota giggled and exclaimed happily, "Lolo!"

She hugged him tightly as he plopped onto the couch with her still clutching onto him. "So look kid, I'm supposed to babysit you tonight and I thought that we could eat some dinner first, does that sound cool?" he asked staring into the two-year-old's big, green eyes.

Dakota smiled and answered, "As wong as my dolly can join us."

"Of course your dolly can join us." he said as he put his forehead against hers.

Dakota smiled as she grabbed her doll that sat neatly next to them on the couch. "Now what's her name?" Logan asked.

"Her name's Lola, kinda like Lolo." Dakota answered as she combed the doll's brown hair with her fingers. Logan smiled as he carried Dakota, who was clutching Lola, to the kitchen. He put her in her highchair and gave her some apple juice and her dinner.

"Wow, you've got it made kid. I mean me, Logan Echolls, as your babysitter! You're one of the luckiest kids in the world." he said as he watched Dakota eat. She just nodded in response as stuffed a spoon full of pasta into her mouth.

"Hey Logan!" Carly said smiling as she emerged from her bedroom. She wore black converses, and the long white skirt, bright blue camisole, and black cardigan that her mom had picked out. Her hair was in a high ponytail, which she slightly waved.

Logan looked over at Carly and said smiling, "Thank the great Lord that you dress conservatively."

"Wow, not the response I was expecting, but thanks." she said.

He smiled as he continued to observe Dakota as she ate.

"Thanks again for babysitting on such short notice, Logan. You're truly a lifesaver." she said smiling.

"Aw, thanks." he said.

"Hey, did my mom leave already?" she asked as she got a bottle of water out of the fridge.

"Yeah, she did." Logan said as he stared at Dakota.

Carly sighed as she walked over to where he was and whispered, "Why are you staring at Dakota?"

"Because I don't want her to choke on anything." he said flatly.

Carly looked at Logan and said, "Okay, super dad, I need to get my purse and find something in my room, so please tell me when Cassidy gets here."

"Cassidy?" Logan asked a little confused.

"Beaver!" she shouted as she walked back into her room.

"Gees, what's her problem?" Logan asked Dakota. Dakota just shrugged as she finished her food. Ten minutes later somebody rang the doorbell.

Logan sighed as he just finished cleaning Dakota up. He quickly picked her up from her highchair and shouted, "Coming!" as he walked hurriedly to answer the door. He swiftly opened the door and weakly smiled. "Hey Beav." he said.

"Hi, Logan." he said confused by why Logan was at Carly's house. He looked over at Dakota who was being held by Logan. "Hi, Dakota." he said smiling.

"Cassy!" she giggled happily. Beaver smiled, at least a few people called him Cassidy.

Logan moved aside to let Beaver in. "So what's up, man? I mean I haven't seen you in a long time." Logan said awkwardly.

"I'm... coping." Beaver said quietly.

Logan looked down at the ground and said timidly, "Beav, look, I'm sorry..." Beaver held up his hand to stop Logan from continuing.

"Logan, please, I get it. I mean, come on, she was my step mom. Who couldn't resist the allures of Kendall Casablancas?" Beaver asked sarcastically.

"Beaver, you've got to understand..." Logan started.

"Logan, I understand completely. You liked banging my step mom behind my father's back. Now my dad's gone, Kendall's making a mockery of the Casablancas name, and all you can do is say your sorry." Beaver said angrily.

"Beaver, I'm truly sorry." Logan said pleadingly.

"Whatever makes you sleep at night." Beaver spat bitterly.

Logan gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, since you don't want an apology, I'll give you something else. Let's call it a warning."

"Okay, I'm all ears." Beaver said.

"Beaver, oh, Beaver, Carly is like my little, baby sister. I taught her everything she knows. I taught her how to skip rocks, chug a soda under three minutes, skateboard, and everything else. She's already been hurt, I don't want her to be hurt anymore. So here it is, if you break Carly's heart, you die. Plain and simple. Are we clear?" Logan asked demandingly.

"We're clear." Beaver answered.

"Good, cause, honestly, I don't want to kill you." Logan said.

"Hey Logan, is Cass..." Carly trailed as she walked into the living room and saw Cassidy. "Hi Cassidy." she said smiling.

"Hey Carly, you look stunning." Beaver said shyly.

"Thanks, see now that was the response I was expecting." she said pointing a finger at Logan. Logan just playfully shrugged. "Behave, you two." she said to Logan and Dakota as she walked toward Cassidy.

"Bye Care Bear, remember to be home by ten or else you're going to be grounded young lady." Logan said sternly.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, eleven it is. Bye." she said smiling as her and Beaver exited the house. Logan sighed, he knew that he couldn't fool Carly.

"Well, I'm glad to be out of there." Beaver said smiling as they walked toward his car.

"Yeah, tell me about it. Can you say awkward? Why are you guys fighting anyway? Did somebody cheat during the Candyland extravaganza last year?" Carly asked.

"It's nothing." he answered as they made their way to his car and he opened the passenger's door so she could get in.

"Thanks." she said as she slipped in and he shut the door. He went to the other side and quickly got in.

"So what restaurant are we going to?" she asked excitedly as he started to drive.

"The Italian Oven, it's a small Italian restaurant. It's very low key and very good." he answered.

"What would I do without you?" she asked smiling as she looked out the window.

Beaver just smiled as he continued driving.

* * *

"I don't think that I can eat another bite for days!" Carly exclaimed as Beaver opened the door to his house. 

"Yeah, I know! How could somebody of your stature eat that much food?" he asked. She playfully hit him in the arm and said, "Yeah, speak for yourself."

Beaver laughed as they both entered the house.

"Dick? Kendall? Anybody home?" he called out. No answer. Beaver gulped, this could be his chance.

"Well, I guess it's just you and me, buddy." Carly said smiling as she made her way to the couch in the living room and plopped onto it.

"Yeah, I guess it is." he choked out nervously as he sat next to her.

"Thanks for asking me out. I'm having a really great time tonight. Back in North Carolina, I didn't really do a lot of social activities, let alone date." she said.

"Your welcome, I'm having a great time, too." he said smiling weakly.

Carly smiled and asked, "So where do you want to do this? Here or in your bedroom?"

Beaver looked at her in disbelief. He couldn't believe that he was hearing this. This was Carly Hayes, for god's sake. The same Carly Hayes who blushed at the word sex and cringed when somebody talked about a woman's body. The same Carly Hayes who still hadn't experienced her first, real kiss. Was this the same Carly Hayes who was now asking him where he wanted to do it?

"Hello, earth to Cassidy!" she said as she snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Wherever you feel more comfortable." he said.

"Okay, here." she said as she opened her black purse.

"Are you sure? What if someone walks in on us?" he asked in disbelief.

"Then, they can join us if they want." she answered knowingly as she continued to dig through her purse.

He sat next to her in total shock at what she had just said. "What?" he asked loudly.

"Cass, why are you freaking out? We're just going to watch a movie." she said as she held up what she had been digging through her purse for. It was the DVD of the movie, Trainspotting.

Cassidy sighed in embarrassment and said timidly, "Sorry."

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he answered as his cheeks became red as a tomato.

"Are you sure, because you've been acting a little weird ever since we walked through those doors?" she said as she pointed to the front doors of his house.

"No, really, I'm fine." he answered as he stared at the ground trying to avoid eye contact.

"What's going on? Should I leave?" she asked worriedly.

"No, no, please don't. Let's just watch the movie." he said still staring at the ground.

"I think that I should go." she said as she quickly tucked the DVD into her purse and started to walk toward the door. He quickly jumped off of the couch and tried to stop her.

"Don't go, Carly." he said.

"Cassidy, I think that I should leave." she said. He took her by the arm and spun her around so that she was facing him. He saw that there was hurt in her eyes.

"I'm sorry for acting the way I did, I don't want you to go." he said pleadingly.

"Why were you acting weird?" she asked.

"I wasn't acting weird." he answered.

"Well with that performance, you really did fool me." she said sarcastically.

"Carly, please just stay. Either way, I'm the only one who can drive you home." he said.

"How much do you want to bet?" she asked loudly.

"Are you mad?" he asked.

"Ding, ding, ding, right answer!" she exclaimed loudly.

"Look, I'm sorry for how I acted over there. I was just confused." he said.

"Confused about what? We were going to watch a damn movie! I told you that when you asked me out." she said.

Beaver could've just kicked himself in the ass at that exact moment. He felt like such a stupid pervert. Carly was one of those girls who weren't going to give their V-card so soon. During their past month of bonding, he should have known that. She didn't want to go to an empty house to have sex; she just wanted to watch a movie with him. He felt like he had just had a Dick moment. He felt like a stupid asshole for thinking that Carly was throwing herself at him.

"I'm sorry, I just thought you meant something else." he said quietly.

"Something else? Something else! What the hell did you think I..." she trailed as she slowly realized what he meant. "Oh." she said softly as she slowly started blushing.

"Yeah." Beaver whispered.

"Did I make you think that I wanted to make out with you?" she asked.

Beaver sighed in relief. 'Thank god she thinks that I just wanted to make out with her' he thought to himself.

When he carefully nodded his head yes in response, she blushed even more. "I'm sorry. I'm totally sorry for leading you on like that. I just didn't realize what I was saying." she said calmly.

"You don't have to apologize. I should be apologizing. I thought that you wanted to sle... I mean make out with me. I'm such a pervert." he said.

"No, you're not. You're one of the sweetest guys I've ever met. You don't need to apologize. I was asking the wrong questions." she said.

"I think that I should take you home." he said.

"Yeah, I think that would be best." she said quietly. He quickly got his jacket and they exited his house. As they made their way to his car she quickly had second thoughts. She couldn't just end the date like this. They were totally on weird and awkward ground. She had to do something to make everything right.

"I don't want to go home." she blurted.

"What?" he asked.

"I don't want to go home, yet. It's not even nine. Do you want to just go back inside and talk or hang out or something?" she asked.

Beaver smiled. "Yeah, I would like that." he answered. They both smiled as they turned around and went back into his house.

Author's Notes: Thank you for reading. Please R&R for my own sanity! I hope everyone liked it.

I am extremely happy that I got to write another chapter, but I have some distressing news that I have to share. Remember how my laptop got a virus? Yeah, well, my dad has just informed me that he is getting it fixed by a professional (finally). But he also told me that he does not like me going on the laptop anymore. He said that my sister and I say too many negative things about the laptop (well hello, it got a freakin' virus!) and that he does not want me to ruin it (oh yeah, I just invited the virus for crumpets and tea!). So he told me that once the laptop was fixed I were to never use it again. Yes people, time to freak out and die. I tired to reason with him, but he just said that his decision was final. I also tried to reason with my mom, but she thinks that my dad's right, too. I am devastated at the news.

Now that I will never be using my laptop ever again, he said I could use his old computer which is conveniently located in the living room where my mom talks on the phone louder than humanly possible, my dad watches football and yells at the TV screen like a crazy person on crack, and where I'll never get a moment's peace. I am crying my eyes out right now. I am so, so sorry to say that updates will have to wait longer than usual.

Next chapter (I'm going to try to write it as fast as I can), expect Veronica to appear, but as we all know where Veronica is, a new case is sure to follow...

Ally


	11. Chapter 11: Silver Tinsel

Author: Modern-Insomniac1138

Pairing/Character: Logan/OC Friendship, LoVe eventually, a little V/D, Beaver/OC, Ensemble

Word Count: 2,425

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Carly Hayes is a freshman at Neptune High, and she's an old friend of the Echolls Family. Slight AU. Season 2.

_July 15, 2002_

_"I still can't believe you made me sneak into three movies with you!" 17 year-old Cecilia Hayes exclaimed._

_Logan Echolls just laughed. They had just spent the afternoon sneaking into movies at the local movie theatre, and Cecilia was now driving them home._

_"It was fun, wasn't it?" Logan asked._

_"Yeah, it was fun." Cecilia answered timidly._

_"Oh my, is the great Cecilia Hayes actually admitting that I was right for once?" he asked in disbelief._

_"Hey, I never said that! All I said was that I had fun." she reasoned._

_"Sure you did." he said rolling his eyes._

_"Hey, who's the one driving, here?" she asked._

_"You are, of course. I mean if you're driving the car you should at least know that you are driving!" he shouted sarcastically._

_"Haha." she said._

_"So, where's Carly? Why couldn't she join us this time?" he asked as he stared out the passenger's side window._

_"She's shopping with my mom. I swear, my mom will do anything to make sure that Carly becomes a girly girl of some sort, but I keep telling her that she will never succeed at her master plan." Cecilia answered._

_"Why?" Logan asked curiously._

_"Because she's too much like you." she said as she glanced over at Logan and smiled._

_Logan smiled back and said, "Anyway, I can't believe we snuck into three movies, and we didn't even get caught!"_

_"I know, that was a miracle." she said._

_"No, that was the Echolls Family charm." he said smirking._

_Cecilia laughed and said, "Thanks Logan for suggesting this. I had fun, today."_

_"Aw, it was my pleasure. You're actually still a lot of fun." he said._

_"Now what is that supposed to mean?" she asked._

_"Nothing, just saying that you're a lot of fun." he answered._

_"No, tell me what 'still a lot of fun' meant." she demanded._

_"Well, ever since you started hanging out with Heather and dating Jeremy, it's just that, you sort of grew up. I mean, you were still there for me, but you just became mature, not that I'm saying it's a bad thing." he answered as he weakly smiled at her._

_"Oh, okay." she said sadly. "You know, even though I may have grown up a little, I still care about you. You know that right?" she asked._

_"Yeah, I do." he answered smiling._

_"Do you want to do this again?" she asked suddenly._

_"Do what?" he asked slightly confused._

_"You know, hang out. We haven't really hung out with just the two of us in a while." she said._

_"Yeah, I know." he said._

_"Yeah, well, do you?" she asked._

_"Of course, I would! Just name the time and the place and I'm there." he answered._

_"Good to hear." she said smiling as they pulled up in front of Logan's house._

Present

"_Oh the weather outside is frightful but the fire is so delightful and since we've got no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow_..." Julia Hayes sang cheerfully as she and Carly decorated their Christmas tree.

"Snow! Snow!" Dakota giggled as she grabbed handfuls of silver tinsel out of a box and threw it into the air.

"Carly, would you..." Julia trailed pointing at Dakota.

Carly looked over at Dakota and sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I'll clean Dakota and the tinsel up." she said reluctantly.

Julia smiled as she said, "Thanks, Carly."

Carly knelt beside Dakota and proceeded to put all the tinsel back into the box. Julia's cell phone, then, started ringing. Julia went over to it and checked the caller ID. Her smile was soon replaced with a frown as she answered it.

"Hi, it's Julia, did you find out where he is yet?" she whispered impatiently into the phone.

As Carly finished cleaning up, she started eavesdropping into her mother's conversation.

"What do you mean you can't find him?" Julia asked loudly. She then looked over at Carly, who looked up at her in confusion.

"Excuse me." Julia barked to the person on the other line. "Carly, can you tuck in Dakota for me?" she asked softly.

"Yeah, sure." she answered hesitantly as she picked up Dakota and headed towards Dakota's bedroom which was located next to her own.

After she tucked Dakota in, she slowly walked towards her own bedroom when she heard her mom, who was still on the phone. "What do you mean he may be out of the country? How hard is it for you to find a college football player named Jeremy Maran, for goodness sake? My God, I hired you to find him for me and all you can do is tell me that it can't be done! Just drop the case, I'll be finding my business elsewhere!" she shouted loudly as she hung up.

Carly was shocked at what she just heard. Was her mom really trying to find Jeremy Maran, Cecilia's ex-boyfriend? Why did she need to find him so badly? Was this because of Dakota? Was she trying to find Jeremy to find out if he was Dakota's father?

Carly shook herself out of her thoughts as she went into her bedroom. She sat on her bed and tried to find out what she should do. Should she ask her mom? Should she just forget about it and move on? Or should she take matters into her own hands? If her mom couldn't find Jeremy, then she would try to find him herself.

To be honest, Carly has always wondered who Dakota's father is. Maybe this was her chance to find out. Her head told her that Jeremy was Dakota's dad, but her heart told her to look somewhere else.

She quickly gathered her thoughts and grabbed the phonebook from under her bed. She quickly skimmed through the pages until she found what she was looking for, a private investigator. She looked through the names and ads until she came across, Keith Mars. "Veronica's dad?" she asked herself. Of course, Veronica had told her about her father's line of work before. _"Well, my dad's a private investigator, if you want to find somebody or find something out, I'm sure he can help." _Veronica had once said. She closed the book and closed her eyes as she laid down on her bed. She knew what she was going to do the next day at school. She knew what she had to do the next day at school.

* * *

"Hey Carly!" Logan beamed happily as Carly slipped into the passenger's seat.

"Hi Logan." she said sullenly as he started driving.

He looked over at her in concern and asked, "What's cracking your egg, Care Bear?"

She shook her head and replied flatly, "Nothing."

"Are you sure?" he asked a little more worried.

"Yeah, I'm sure." she said as she weakly smiled at him.

"Okay, but you know that you can tell me anything right? You can trust me." he said.

She looked up at him and for a split second she had truly thought about telling him what she had overheard, but her heart stopped her for some stupid reason. Instead she looked at her shoes and said, "I know."

As she and Logan made their separate ways into school, she saw Beaver at his locker. She contemplated whether she should go talk to him or not. Their date had been amazing. They talked and laughed and became closer, but he had been avoiding her the past few days. She decided that it was time to break the ice and go fine out why.

"Hey, Cass." she said as she went up to him.

He glanced over at her and continued to gather his books. "Hi Carly." he said.

"I had fun on Friday." she said.

"Yeah, me too." he said as he closed his locker shut.

"Did I do something wrong?" she asked suddenly.

"No, why?" he asked.

"Because it seems like you're avoiding me." she answered as they started to walk down the hall together.

"I'm not avoiding you." he said.

"Yes, you are. You won't answer my calls, you've been avoiding me at lunch, and you seem to be conveniently "taking a shower or out" every time I go to your house. Did I do something? Do you not like me? Did something in your mind click saying that I'm just not your type?" she asked.

"Carly..." he trailed.

"No, tell me." she demanded.

"Carly, you are my type and that's why I'm avoiding you." he said.

"What?" she asked in confusion.

"I like you, and that's all I can say right now." he answered.

"I like you, too, but then what's the problem?" she asked.

Beaver bite his lip. The real reason that he had been avoiding her the past few days was that he honestly liked her, but he knew that if he would go through with the bet that he would hurt her in the process. "The problem is that I like you. You're my friend and it's just complicated right now. It just a little confusing." He answered.

"So what does this make us?" she asked.

"I don't know, but I do know that I want to go on another date with you." he answered.

"You do?" she asked smiling as she abruptly stopped walking.

"Yeah, I do." he answered as he stopped, also.

"Great, I want to go on another date, too. Well, I should go get my stuff out of my locker and head for class. I don't want to be late for homeroom." she said smiling.

"Yeah, you should." he said.

"I'll see you at lunch and we can discuss plans for another date." she said.

"I'd like that. See you later, Carly Hayes." he said sweetly as he walked toward his own classroom.

"See you later." she said as she watched him walk away. She quickly turned around and bumped into someone. Both of their books fell and they both knelt down to pick them up. As she gathered her books she looked up to see that she had bumped into a brown-haired boy with blue eyes and glasses. He looked like he was a freshman, also.

"Sorry." he said hurriedly as he scurried away.

"It's... okay." she yelled after him. She shrugged her shoulders as she continued walking to her locker. As she walked toward her locker, she spotted Veronica Mars and Duncan Kane arguing in the hallway.

"God, Duncan, I'm sorry that I forgot to call you last night! For your information I actually work!" she shouted.

"Well, Veronica you should have at least told me so I didn't have to leave a dozen messages on your cell phone! I thought you were hurt or something!" he barked back.

"No, you just thought that I was with another guy." she shouted loudly.

"Yeah, like you would cheat on me. Who would cheat with you, anyway?" he shouted angrily.

"You cocky son of a bitch. You know what, don't bother even calling me tonight." she said bitterly as she walked away from him and into the girls bathroom.

Carly quickly followed her into the bathroom. She walked in to find that Veronica and her were the only ones there.

"Veronica?" she asked.

"What?" she snapped angrily as she turned around. "Oh, I'm sorry Carly." she said.

"It's okay. Are you alright?" Carly asked.

"Yeah, so I guess you witnessed one of the many fights of Veronica and Duncan, huh?" Veronica asked.

"Yeah, I guess I did, so why were you guys fighting?" she asked.

"Yeah, well because I was supposed to call him last night and I forgot. He thinks that the world revolves around him and his small..." she trailed as she realized that what she was about to say was very inappropriate. Instead she ended the sentence with, "brain."

"Well, do you guys fight all the time?" Carly asked.

"No, just recently. He thinks that I like another guy." she answered.

"Who?" Carly asked curiously.

Veronica's mind was screaming, "Logan! Logan! I love Logan!", but instead she answered, "Nothing, it's fine. He just thinks that roses and candy will fix everything. He doesn't get me. I guess he never really got me. He thinks that I'm the same ol' gal from the "fab four" days with him, Lilly, Logan and me, but he's wrong. We've all changed, but I guess he'll never get that through in his mind."

"That sounds complicated." Carly said.

"Yeah, it does. Well, I've got to go or else I'll be late for class." Veronica said as she headed toward the door.

"Wait!" Carly shouted as she remembered why she had to talk to Veronica in the first place.

"Yeah?" Veronica asked.

"I didn't just come in here to ask if you were okay. I came in here to ask you something." she answered.

"What do you want to ask me?" Veronica asked.

"I want to ask you if your dad can help me find someone." Carly asked.

"Look, Carly, my dad's a little busy right now. Everyone's looking for someone. It's usual really busy around Christmas time." Veronica answered.

"Oh okay. Well, thanks for hearing me out." Carly said disappointedly.

"No, just because my dad's busy doesn't mean that I can't help you." Veronica said.

"Really, you can help me?" Carly asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I can. So who do you need to find?" she asked.

"I need to find Jeremy Maran." Carly answered.

"Okay, who's he and why do you need to find him?" Veronica asked.

"He's Cecilia's ex-boyfriend, and I need to find him to get a DNA sample from him." she answered.

"DNA sample for what?" Veronica asked curiously.

"DNA sample for a paternity test. I want to find out if he's Dakota's father." Carly answered.

Author's Notes: Thanks for reading. Please review! Those reviews inspire me to continue, and they help me write. Stay tuned for the next chapter and for the demise of a certain couple.

Ally


	12. Chapter 12: Personal Space

Title: Home Sweet Home

Author: Modern-Insomniac138

Pairing/Character: Logan/OC Friendship, LoVe eventually, a little V/D, Beaver/OC, Ensemble

Word Count: 3,170

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Carly Hayes is a freshman at Neptune High, and she's an old friend of the Echolls Family. Slight AU. Season 2.

Disclaimer: I do not own Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas does. Though I wish I owned Logan… Oh well!

_July 22, 2002_

_"Hey! Move over, DK!" Logan Echolls yelled at his best friend, Duncan Kane._

_"Dude, chill." Duncan said as he made room for Logan on his bed._

_"Yeah, that's what your mom said." Logan said smirking as he took a seat next to Duncan and snatched the television remote from his hand._

_Duncan looked over at him and said, "Dude, so not funny."_

_"Sorry man, but I just had to say it." Logan said smiling as he started flipping through the channels. "Hey, when's the whole crew coming?" he asked._

_Duncan looked at the clock next to his bed and answered, "Dick and Sean should be here soon, and Luke's coming in an hour. He's got a "doctor's appointment"._

_"Yeah right, everyone knows that Luke's taking drugs for god's sake. I've never seen a mortal being go to the bathroom that many times in one day! It's either drugs or Mr. Winkey got a little excited during chemistry class." Logan said smirking._

_"Dude, it's probably because of Veronica. Man, she got hot this summer." Duncan said smiling._

_Logan looked over at him in surprise and asked, "You think she's hot?"_

_"Yeah dude, were you listening to what I'd just said?" Duncan asked sarcastically._

_"Yeah, I did, but I didn't know she was your type." Logan answered._

_Duncan looked over at him in confusion and asked angrily, "So you think she's your type?"_

_Logan hesitated for a moment before answering, "Of course she's not my type." Logan cringed at what he'd just said. Ever since he was twelve, he had developed a huge crush for Veronica, but soon Lilly and him started dating and everything seemed to change, but his feelings for Veronica still lingered around in his mind._

_"Okay, whatever, dude." Duncan said as he rolled his eyes._

_"Hey guys!" a young 14-year-old Dick Casablancas said happily as he and Sean entered the living room._

_"Hi guys, what's up?" Sean asked as he plopped down on the bed next to Logan._

_"Nothing, so where do you guys want to go, today?" Logan asked._

_"Well, I was thinking about sneaking into the cheerleading camp right outside of Neptune." Dick answered smirking._

_"Yeah, me and Dickey here were thinking of getting some hot cheerleader ass." Sean said smiling._

_"Dude, do you think that a couple of hot, varsity cheerleaders would want to score with a couple of 14-year-old geeks?" Duncan asked._

_"Yeah, but Duncan, think of it this way. Do you think that a couple of hot, varsity cheerleaders would want to score with rich, adolescent boys from the 09er zip?" Sean asked._

_"Point taken." Duncan answered._

_"So, when can we go?" Dick asked impatiently._

_"We're still waiting for Luke." Logan answered flatly as he kept his attention to the television screen._

_"Ah man! Dude, that camp closes at nine! It's going to be like a five hour drive!" Dick shouted in frustration._

_"How are we supposed to get there, anyway? Nobody here can drive, yet." Logan said._

_"Dude, no problems. I hired a chauffer." Dick said slyly._

_"Nice." Duncan said as he and Dick high fived each other._

_"Yeah, so can we go now?" Dick asked._

_"Why are you in such a rush?" Logan asked._

_"Well, the chauffeur is waiting outside in the car." Dick answered._

_"So... keep him waiting a bit. For the money you're probably paying him, I think a few minutes of waiting won't hurt." Logan answered._

_"Yeah, but..." Dick started in frustration._

_"Logan, I think that Dickey here's a little too excited." Sean whispered smirking as he pointed at Dick' s pants. Logan looked over at Dick's pants and threw a pillow at him. _

_"Ew, Dick, please! I seriously do not want to see that bulge in your pants!" Logan shouted in disgust as Dick turned bright red._

_"What bulge?" Sean asked sarcastically. All the boys laughed._

_"Well, Logan, you don't have to worry about anything, I mean you have a hot girlfriend!" Dick reasoned._

_"Yeah, Logan, Dick's right. I mean your girlfriend is freaking Lilly Kane!" Sean exclaimed._

_"Guys, can "guy talk" about my sister go down to a minimum, please." Duncan said._

_"Sorry dude." Sean said._

_"Yeah, whatever." Dick said rolling his eyes._

_"Hey, Donut! Luke's here!" Lilly yelled from downstairs._

_"Okay, Lilly, just send him upstairs!" Duncan yelled back._

_"I guess you got your wish, Dick. Oh, and I think your friend just got a little excited, again. I guess Luke has that effect on people." Logan said smiling. _

_All the boys laughed as Dick glared at Logan._

Present

"Wow, that was a great movie, wasn't it?" Carly asked as Beaver pulled up into her driveway.

"Yeah, it was." Beaver said as he parked outside her house.

"Well, I think that when it comes out on DVD, we should totally rent it." Carly said smiling.

"Yeah, I guess we should." Beaver said as he turned off the engine.

"Hm... well, I had fun tonight." Carly said.

"Yeah, I did, too." Beaver said smiling weakly.

"Are you okay? I mean tonight you've been sort of quiet." Carly said worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Beaver answered quietly.

Carly looked down at her feet in disappointment and Beaver looked over at her. "So Carly, what do you want for Christmas?" he asked.

"Anything, I guess. I mean you don't even have to give me a present." Carly answered.

"Yeah, well, I want to." Beaver said.

Carly looked over at him and smiled. "You know, we should watch Star Wars." Carly said suddenly.

"What?" Beaver asked.

"Star Wars! We should totally watch Star Wars!" Carly exclaimed happily. Beaver just stared at her blankly.

"Oh please don't tell me that you haven't seen Star Wars?" Carly asked incredulously.

"I know what they are, but I haven't seen them." Beaver said as he shrugged his shoulders.

Carly looked at him open-mouthed and in shock. "What?" he asked defensively.

"Oh nothing, just one day I'll have to turn you to the dark side." she said winking. He laughed and asked teasingly, "Oh and how will you do that?"

She quirked an eyebrow at him, and he quickly blushed. "So what's up with Star Wars that's got girls' panties in such a bunch?" he asked playfully.

"Cass, what can I say? Is it the epic space battles, the lightsaber fights, or a leather clad Anakin Skywalker?" she asked teasingly. He just rolled his eyes jokingly and asked, "Are you sure it isn't Obi-Wan Kenobi that's got girls' getting all hot and bothered?"

Carly blushed furiously as she hit him playfully in the arm. He quickly retaliated and started tickling her. They both started laughing. "Oh... my... god... please... stop..." she pleaded as she tried to breath from all the laughing. "No way, I'm going to show you whose boss!" he shouted playfully. Carly laughed as he pinned her against the passenger side door and continued to tickle her. He smiled as he watched her laugh, but he abruptly stopped as he noticed the position they were in. She noticed that he had stopped tickling her and she slowly opened her eyes to find herself staring into his eyes. She just stared at him as he leaned in closer to her face. Their lips barely inches away from each other when a loud knocking on the car door disrupted them. They both scrambled to regain their composure and Beaver jumped back into the driver's seat.

"Carly! I think the date's over." Logan called from outside the car. He had Dakota sleeping in his arms.

"Okay, Logan, I'll be right out." Carly managed to choke out. She looked over at Beaver and shot him an apologetic look. He weakly smiled and said quietly, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Cass." she said smiling as she exited the car and followed Logan inside her house.

Once they were inside, Carly started heading toward her bedroom. "Carly, stop!" Logan barked. Carly stopped walking and turned around to face him.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"I want you to wait out here while I tuck in Dakota. I think we need to talk." he said flatly as he moved past her to Dakota's room.

Carly gulped nervously as she took a seat on the couch in the living room. She quietly waited a few minutes before she saw Logan approach her.

"Hi Logan." she said smiling weakly.

He just stood in front of her, and stared at her. "So are you and Beaver always so noisy when you two make-out?" he asked.

"Logan, we weren't making out." she answered.

"So, I just imagined what I heard?" he asked.

"We were just joking around and then he started... tickling... me." she trailed nervously as she realized what she had just said.

He stared at her incredulously. "Tickling you? God, I hope that's not some new word meaning him having his hands in your..." he started before Carly yelled to stop him.

"No! No! It means exactly what it means." she shouted.

"Carly..." he started as he looked at her in frustration.

"You don't believe me, do you?" she asked.

"Well, what am I suppose to believe, Carly? I mean you and him are always hanging around each other, and I've heard so many rumors at school. Plus, I just heard you a few minutes ago!" he reasoned.

"Oh my god! We haven't even kissed yet; let alone what you and the whole school's thinking! I don't care what my whole class thinks; I don't care what the whole school thinks, but to have you think that is just hurtful! Logan, it's me you're talking about here! Carly Elizabeth Hayes! For god sake's I blush every time someone says the word sex!" she shouted loudly.

"Carly, you're 14, now. I just don't know what to think." he said sadly.

"Thanks Logan for believing me." she said sarcastically as she got up and stomped to her room.

As Carly got ready for bed, there was a knock on her door. "Come in." she said as she threw all her dirty clothes into her hamper. "Hey Carly." Logan said as he entered her room. She didn't answer him, she just kept putting away her clean laundry and folding the clothes that she had previously worn as he took a seat on her bed.

"Look, I'm sorry if I offended you." he said.

She didn't say anything.

"Carly, you're growing up. I mean I worry about you everyday. It seemed so easy to protect you when you were 5 or 11-years-old, but now you're..." he started.

"A teenager." she finished flatly.

"Yeah, a teenager. I'm just really over protective. I mean you're my Carly. My little baby Carly and it's just kind of weird that you've got yourself a "boyfriend" and I'll never know what you two do behind closed doors." he said.

She just stayed silent. Logan looked down at the floor and sighed. He bite his lip as he realized that he had to tell her what he had been dreading to tell her for the longest time.

"Carly... can I tell you something?" he asked quietly.

She just waved her hand in response. "Okay, I'll take that as a yes. Do you know Kendall Casablancas?" he asked.

She looked up at him and answered, "Yeah, she's Cassidy's step mom."

"Okay, well... a few months before you moved back, and um... after Veronica broke up with me, I..." he started nervously.

"Just spit it out!" she shouted.

"I had an affair with her!" he shouted back.

She just looked at him dumbfounded at what he had just said. "You and Kendall had an affair?" she asked.

"Yeah, we did." he answered. "Look Carly, before you moved back, I was a complete idiot! I did a lot of stupid things that I wish that I could take back, but I can't. I mean, by the time I was 15, I had already smoked my first joint, I had snorted cocaine, I had lost my virginity, and I drank more than a legal person should drink. I regret all of it, but that's the thing, I regret it all. I don't want you to regret anything in your life. I want you to understand that I'm a total ass and I don't want you to be the next ass in Neptune." he said.

He looked up at her and this time, she met his gaze.

"Carly, I'm just protecting you from being me." he said.

She looked at him in sympathy and took a seat next to him. "Logan, I understand. If I were in your position I guess I would've freaked out, too." she said smiling weakly.

"Thanks for understanding, but aren't you mad about all the stuff that I've just confessed to you?" he asked in disbelief.

"No." she answered as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Why aren't you mad?" he asked in shock.

"Logan, are you and Kendall still..." she started.

"No! We aren't anymore! I cleaned up that mess a month before you moved back." he said finishing her sentence.

Carly just smiled and said, "Well, there's your answer."

He looked at her in confusion as she continued, "Logan, nobody pushed you to break things off with her. You could be still doing whatever you were doing with her, but you're not anymore and that says a lot about your character. You did it on your own free will and that's very honorable."

"So we're cool?" he asked smiling.

"Yeah, we're cool, but I just want you to trust me." she said pleadingly.

"I do, it's just Beaver that I don't trust." he said.

"Why?" she asked curiously.

"Because he's a guy, and guy's will do anything to get in between a girl's legs." he answered.

"Hm... doesn't that sound familiar?" she asked sarcastically.

"Carly, just promise me that you won't do anything stupid." he said looking into her eyes.

She smiled weakly as she said, "I promise."

He smiled and she asked, "Hey Logan?"

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Are you sure that you're not on drugs right now because you're really acting like some gay football player moment?" she asked teasingly.

"Shut up, Care Bear." he said as he threw a pillow at her.

* * *

"Jeremy Maran..." Veronica whispered to herself as she typed the name on her computer. It had been a few days since Carly had asked for her help. She was now at her dad's office and she wasn't having any luck in finding Jeremy. This was now her 46th try. "Huh, no Jeremy Maran?" she asked herself in confusion as the computer search came up empty. 

"Hey baby." a voice said, which brought her back to reality.

"Oh, hi Duncan." she said smiling weakly as she sat up from her chair. He walked over to greet her behind her desk and she quickly closed her laptop.

"You know, it isn't good to keep secrets from your lover." he said smiling.

"Yeah, well, it's a high profile case that I'm working on. The client is very big on discretion." she said.

"Oh well, I'll just have to pry the information out of you then." he said as he leaned in for a kiss. She quickly turned her head away before his lips met hers. He let out a sigh of frustration.

"Duncan, I just think that this is a very inappropriate time for kissing. I really need to get back to work." she said.

"God V, what the hell is your problem? You haven't let me kiss or touch you in weeks!" he yelled angrily as he moved from behind the desk.

"Duncan..." she started.

"No, Veronica, just tell me why you've been a bitch!" he shouted angrily.

She looked down at the desk and started playing with a pencil as she said, "Duncan, I think that I need some space right now."

"What does that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"I just think that I need to be alone for awhile." she answered.

"Are you breaking up with me?" he asked in disbelief.

She just remained silent.

"Answer me!" he growled.

"Yes, Duncan, I'm breaking up with you!" she shouted firmly.

He looked at her in total shock, but then his shock was replaced with complete rage.

"You stupid bitch! After all I've done for you, you're still going to break up with me! Is this about Logan?" he asked loudly.

"Duncan, calm down! This isn't about Logan; it's about you being a complete asshole! Duncan, all you expect me to be is…" she started.

"To be what, Veronica?" he asked angrily.

"To be who I used to be! To be that girl before Lilly died!" she answered loudly.

"Veronica, you know as well as I do that this is about Logan! I've seen the way you look at him, lately! You're in love with him still, aren't you?" he demanded angrily.

Veronica just looked away.

"God, you're such a whore! Well you know what? Logan will never take you back! He's tired of you and your goddamn antics, just as well as I am! He doesn't really care about you; he never really ever cared about you! He was really only in it for the sex and when you didn't give it to him, Kendall did. God, it's either Kendall or you and that's not a very hard decision to..." he trailed before he found himself being slapped in the face by a very pissed off tiny blonde girl.

He held his left cheek in pain as he stared at her in shock.

"Get the fuck out! I don't ever want to see you around here ever again! Don't you ever think about coming back or so help me God, I'll let Backup rip your throat out! I don't want to see you in my sight again! Now get out!" she screamed as tears started to cascade down her face.

He just looked at her and nodded his head. Then he was gone.

Author's Notes: Thanks again for reading! I hope you thoroughly enjoyed the newest chapter of Home Sweet Home! Please review! Those reviews mean the world to mean! Also, special shout out to all my readers and fans!

Ally


	13. Chapter 13: Sick Boy

Title: Home Sweet Home

Author: Modern-Insomniac138

Pairing/Character: Logan/OC Friendship, LoVe eventually, a little V/D, Beaver/OC, Ensemble

Word Count: 1,995

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Carly Hayes is a freshman at Neptune High, and she's an old friend of the Echolls Family. Slight AU. Season 2.

Disclaimer: I do not own Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas does. Though I wish I owned Logan… Oh well!

_July 31, 2002_

_"You're not getting any younger, Mark. The world is changing, music is changing, even drugs are changing. You can't stay in here all day dreaming about heroin and Ziggy Pop." Carly Hayes said as she spoke along with one of the actors in the movie, Trainspotting._

_"It's Iggy Pop." Logan Echolls said as he too, spoke along with the dialogue. Carly and him were doing what they usually did when they watched movies, they would say the dialogue right along with the actors. They were now at his house watching Trainspotting in the living room, while their parents planned another movie release party for Aaron._

_"You know, Logan, you'd make a pretty good Mark Renton." Carly said smiling._

_"And you'd make a damn good Diane." he said smirking._

_"Ew, now that's just creepy. I don't think that I want to be the Lolita-ish character, anymore." she said as she got up to get more popcorn._

_"Seriously Carly, I don't think you should be watching this movie." Logan said as he followed her into the kitchen._

_"Seriously Logan, I first saw this movie when I was nine! While everyone else at school quotes Shrek, I quote Trainspotting. It's like a second language to me. Also, I absolutely love this movie." she said as she poured more popcorn into a bowl._

_"It is rated R, and R stands for restricted, you know that right?" he asked._

_"No, I didn't. Thank you Mr. Rogers for the warning, but I think that I'll be fine." she said sarcastically._

"_Well at least you like a good movie, I mean I don't think that I'd be quoting Stuart Little with you." he said._

"_Logan, that's why we watch Trainspotting and Velvet Goldmine." she said smiling. _

_"Yeah, you're right. So are you ready for a fun-filled evening tomorrow at my dad's movie release party?" Logan asked bitterly._

_"Yeah, like I have a choice." Carly said as they both headed back to the living room._

_"Why are we even celebrating another piece of shit movie? I mean who in their right mind would want to watch some B-rated James Bond rip-off?" Logan asked as they both settled back on the couch. _

_"Hm… everyone in Neptune?" Carly answered knowingly._

_"Yeah, you're right. I mean everyone here just loves sucking up to my dad." he said as they both continued to watch the movie._

_A few minutes later, Carly suddenly exclaimed, "Hey!"_

_"What? What's wrong?" Logan asked worriedly._

_"I've got a great idea!" she exclaimed happily._

_"What? Do you have a great idea of how we can skip tomorrow's bore fest or shall I say hell fest?" Logan asked hopefully._

_"No, but next time we watch Trainspotting, you can be Mark and I'll be Sick Boy! I don't think that I want to be Diane, anymore." Carly answered smiling._

_Logan shook his head in amusement and said, "Sorry kid, but you will and always will be my Diane."_

_"But Sick Boy is my favorite character!" Carly whined._

_"Wait! If Sick Boy's your favorite character then why did you agree to be Diane?" Logan asked curiously._

_"Because I thought it was kind of weird if you were gonna be Mark, Cecilia was gonna be Tommy, then who would be Diane? So I thought hey, I'll be Diane. I agreed to be Diane even before you and Cecilia showed me the movie. So after I first watched it I was like wow so that's Diane." Carly explained._

_"Wow, how enlightening." Logan said sarcastically._

_Carly laughed, but soon she started coughing. "Hey, are you feeling okay?" Logan asked worriedly._

_"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just a little cough. It's nothing big or anything, so are you sure you still want me to be Diane? I mean Diane is Mark's 14-year-old, underage girlfriend!" Carly exclaimed._

_"Yeah, I'm sure. Also, if you aren't Diane, who else would be? Duncan?" Logan asked smirking as Carly laughed. "So where's Cecilia?" he asked._

_"She's hanging out with Heather, but I bet she's gonna be pretty bummed when she finds out we watched Trainspotting without her." Carly answered._

_"Yeah, so about the subject of Diane. Promise that you'll be Diane, no matter who you're quoting the movie with." Logan said smiling._

_"Promise." Carly said smiling._

Present

"Hi sweetie, what are you doing here so early? Shouldn't you be getting ready for school?" Keith Mars asked as he entered his office to find his 18-year-old daughter sitting at her desk.

"Hi dad, I'm just working on a case." Veronica answered.

"Veronica, didn't I tell you to stop working on cases?" Keith asked angrily.

"Yeah dad, but this is more of a favor for a friend. This doesn't include bail jumpers or cheating spouses, I'm just trying to track down someone." she answered.

Keith's face softened and he asked, "Veronica... are you sure that this case is safe?"

"Yes, dad, I'm sure. Well, unless my computer decides to attack me in my sleep, but other than that, I think I'll be alright." she answered smiling.

Keith smiled back and asked curiously, "Okay, sweetie. So who's this case for?"

"Uh... Carly Hayes." she answered.

"Carly Hayes? As in Hayes Cosmetics?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, she's a friend." she answered.

"Okay, honey. Well, make sure to tell that boyfriend of yours that you're here. You know how worried Duncan gets." he said.

Veronica's face fell into a frown and said, "Actually dad, I broke up with him last night."

Keith looked at his daughter in sympathy and asked, "Oh honey, I'm so sorry. Why did you break up with him?"

"Because he was an ass." she said knowingly as she smiled weakly.

Keith chuckled and said, "Wow Veronica, you sure know how to pick em', huh."

Veronica, weakly, smiled back.

"Well, I've got to go back to work and I think that you should go to school soon. Bye, honey." he said as he started to walk into his office.

"Wait dad!" she shouted.

"Yeah?" he asked as he stopped to face her.

"Do you… hate Logan?" she asked hesitantly. She knew that Logan was a sore subject with her father.

"Veronica..." he started.

"No, dad please just answer the question." she said pleadingly.

"Veronica, I don't hate Logan. I just think that he's trouble." he said.

"Do you think that he killed Felix on the bridge?" she asked.

"I don't know what to think." he answered.

Veronica looked down at her laptop in disappointment and Keith said, "Logan used to be a good kid. I've known him for a long time, but I just think that he was a good kid who got caught up in many bad situations."

Keith looked at Veronica and realized something. "Veronica?" he asked.

"Yeah dad?" she asked.

"Do you love him?" he asked.

Veronica just stayed quiet. Keith weakly smiled and said, "Honey, go tell him how you fell, I think we both owe him that."

Veronica smiled at him as he disappeared into his office.

* * *

"So Beav, have you decided what you should give Carly for Christmas, yet? I was thinking some lingerie from La Pearla, maybe?" Dick asked smirking as he plopped onto the couch. 

"Dick, why can't you just leave me alone?" Beaver asked in frustration as he put all of his books into his backpack.

"Well if I left you alone, then how I would I have fun?" Dick asked sarcastically.

"Whatever." Beaver said as he started out the door with Dick following close behind.

"Have you gotten anywhere with her?" Dick asked.

"No, but I will. You just have to give me some time. She's a very classy girl and she won't just say yes if I ask. I have to gain her trust and everything." Beaver answered.

"Well, tick tock, Beav, me and all the 09ers are waiting." Dick said smiling as Beaver climbed into his car.

* * *

"Hey, superfly!" Wallace greeted. 

"Hey Wallace. So have you finished all your Christmas shopping, yet?" she asked as they walked together down the hall.

"Yeah, but I still don't know what to get you." Wallace answered.

"Wallace, Wallace, Wallace, when you find the right gift, you'll just know." she said smiling.

"You know you are the hardest person on the planet to shop for!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, you and my dad should join a fan club." she said jokingly.

"Well, I got to jet V. See ya later." he said as he walked into his homeroom.

"Bye Wallace." she said as she continued walking.

Her phone rang and she checked the caller ID. Duncan Kane. "I can't deal with him right now." she said to herself as she slipped the cell phone into her bag. As she tried to make it through the crowed hallway she bumped into someone.

"Sorry." she said as she realized that she had bumped into Logan.

"Hi Veronica." he said as he smiled weakly. She weakly smiled back. They just looked at each other in silence.

"So, I told her." Logan said to break the awkward silence.

"You told Carly?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, she wasn't mad. She was just glad that I told her. So, I guess you were right, better now then in twenty years." he answered smiling.

"Well I'm glad to hear." she said smiling.

They both remained silent. "So, I guess you should be the first one to find out, then." Veronica said as she broke another awkward silence.

"Find out what?" he asked in confusion.

"Find out that I broke up with Duncan." Veronica answered.

"Oh, I'm sorry, when?" he asked.

"Last night." she answered.

"Oh, so why did you break up with the golden boy, anyway?" he asked bitterly.

"He was being a stupid asshole, and he's a plain, old jerk." she answered.

"Oh, well isn't that a surprise." he said sarcastically.

"Yeah, well go figure right? I mean you told me he was an ass and I never was a good listener." she said smiling. He smiled back at her as their eyes locked. They just spent a few moments getting lost in each other's eyes.

"Logan… I have to tell you something important." she said.

"Yeah?" he asked still gazing into her blue eyes.

"I know that we haven't been the best of friends, lately, but I realized something… I realized that I…" she started before she was being interrupted by the bell, once again. Logan blinked and looked away.

"Well, thanks for the info about you and Duncan, but I've got to go to class. I don't want to be late again. Bye Veronica." he said hurriedly as he started walking toward his classroom.

"Bye Logan." she whispered as she watched him walk away.

Author's Notes: Thanks for reading. I know this chapter wasn't that long, but I'm trying to fit in another chapter before Christmas, so bear with me! Please review for my own sanity! Remember, no reviews make Ally a dull girl! lol. Also, Trainspotting rules! It's a great movie for a more older, mature audience. As you can tell, I really love Star Wars and Trainspotting! I guess anything with Ewan McGregor, who is Emily-In-Sydney7457's favorite actor in the whole wide world, rocks! Trainspotting and Velvet Goldmine is a shout out to you dear Emi!

Ally


	14. Chapter 14: Jeremy Tristan

Title: Home Sweet Home

Author: Modern-Insomniac138

Pairing/Character: Logan/OC Friendship, LoVe eventually, a little V/D, Beaver/OC, Ensemble

Word Count: 2,230

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Carly Hayes is a freshman at Neptune High, and she's an old friend of the Echolls Family. Slight AU. Season 2.

Disclaimer: I do not own Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas does. Though I wish I owned Logan…

Oh well!

_August 1, 2002_

_"Carly Elizabeth Hayes how could you?" Logan Echolls asked angrily._

_"I'm sorry, how was I supposed to know that my little cough last night was really the flu?" Carly asked innocently._

_Logan looked at Carly in sympathy. "I still can't believe that you have to stay in bed all day until you feel better." Logan said as he sat in a chair across from where she was lying._

_"Yeah, I know, but I'm trying to convince my parents that I'm..." Carly started before she sneezed._

_"It's okay Care Bear. Tonight, I'll take one for the team." Logan said smiling as he handed her a tissue._

_"Thanks for understanding Logan. You know that I would go if I could. I hate seeing you being harassed by teeny bopper 09ers and Aaron obsessed fans." she said hazily as she wiped her nose with the tissue._

_"It's okay, I just want you to get better." he said._

_"Well, I think I'll be better soon, but I just don't think I can inhale another bowl of soup!" Carly whined._

_Logan laughed. _

_"Don't you dare laugh at me! I'm tired, I'm cranky, and I feel like a 1,000,000 pound elephant just sat on me!" she wailed._

_"Well, I'll let you get some rest. I'll tell you how everything went at hell fest if I see you tomorrow. Good luck with that elephant problem." Logan said as he got up from where he was sitting and headed for the door._

_"Hey Logan?" Carly asked._

_"Yeah Care Bear?" he asked._

_"Go get 'em tiger." she said jokingly._

_"Aye captain!" Logan exclaimed as he saluted her. She laughed as he walked out of her room. He quickly rounded the corner into the living room only to bump into Cecilia._

_"Ow!" she shouted as she stumbled backwards._

_"Sorry Cecilia!" he said as he grabbed her waist to keep her steady and from falling._

_"It's okay." she said as she finally balanced herself._

_"Are you alright?" he asked as he let go of her waist._

_"Yeah, I am. So where are you going in such a rush?" she asked curiously._

_"Oh, I'm headed home. I've got to get ready for my dad's movie release party tonight." he answered._

_"Oh yeah, that's right. Well, I'll let you be on your way." Cecilia said smiling as she moved aside so he could pass._

_"Thanks, I'll see you later." he said as he walked past her toward the door. "Hey, Cecilia?" he asked as he turned around to face her._

_"Yeah Logan?" she asked._

_"Are you coming tonight?" he asked hopefully._

_"I'm not sure, I might have to stay here and take care of Carly." she answered._

_"Oh, okay. I'll just talk to you tomorrow." he said disappointedly as he turned around to leave._

_Cecilia looked down at the ground and then suddenly she shouted, "Wait!"_

_Logan turned around to face her. _

_"But I'm sure that I can get our nanny to baby-sit Carly. I mean, I need a break from babies and children after volunteering at that daycare center a few days ago." Cecilia said smiling._

_Logan smiled and asked hopefully, "So I'll see you tonight?"_

_"Yeah, I'll see you tonight. Also, please tell Mrs. Santos to iron that green striped dress shirt that you have. I don't want my date to look like a total ass." she said smiling._

_He smiled back. "Will do ma'am." he said as he saluted her._

_She giggled as he turned around to leave. Once he left, she sighed. "What have I gotten myself into?" she asked herself as she turned around and headed to the bathroom._

Present/ December 31, 2005

"What! No Jeremy Maran! I mean, what happened to that guy? Did he just erase himself off the face of the Earth!" Carly shouted angrily as she rubbed her forehead in frustration.

"It's okay Carly, we'll just use a different technique to find him." Veronica suggested.

"We've been using different techniques and it's getting us no where! It's already five o'clock on New Year's Eve, and I promised Cassidy that we could hang out tonight. After a morning of Dakota spraying apple juice on my face and throwing mushy carrots at me, I really think that I need to take a shower and primp before we hang out!" Carly whined.

"Carly, just trust me okay? I mean we'll find Jeremy soon. Sometimes finding missing people aren't always an easy task. Look, it is New Year's Eve and why don't we give it another try for one more hour and see how it goes. Then if we don't find him we can both call it a day and continue on Monday. Now does that sound reasonable, yet?" Veronica asked.

"Yeah... it sounds fine to me." Carly answered as she flopped onto the couch.

Veronica sighed. Christmas had already passed and a new year was soon approaching. She was, now, in the middle of helping Carly with her case. After days of trying, it seemed that Cecilia's ex-boyfriend, Jeremy, had seemed to disappear off the face of the Earth and into the "Twilight Zone"! Veronica looked over at Carly in sympathy. She knew what it felt like to want to find someone desperately. She knew that feeling all too well after her mother left.

"So Carly, are you and the Beav dating?" Veronica asked curiously.

"Well... I'm not entirely sure." Carly answered.

"What do you mean you're not entirely sure?" Veronica asked in confusion.

"Well, things between me and Cassidy are really, really hard to explain. I mean for Christmas day we hung out and exchanged presents and all that good stuff, but I just don't know where we both stand. We've been on "dates", but we haven't even kissed yet. I'm not even sure if he's a boyfriend or just a friend! It's complicated and weird and all that mushy stuff in between." Carly answered frowning.

Veronica smiled. "Hey, what are you smiling about?" Carly asked.

"Well it seems fairly obvious to me." Veronica answered smiling.

"What's fairly obvious to you?" Carly asked.

"You like him. You really, really like him." Veronica answered simply.

Carly just blushed as she quickly tried to change the subject. "So, do you have any special plans for New Year's Eve?" she asked.

"Nope, it's just going to be me, Wallace, my dad, and Backup huddled in front of the television set as we watch the ball drop in Times Square." Veronica answered.

"So are you and Duncan on good terms, yet?" Carly asked.

"No, I think that we're going to be on rough mountain terrain for a damn long time. I don't want to see or talk to him ever again!" Veronica answered proudly.

"Well, good for you! He's a jerk anyway, but it's pretty funny how everyone is still talking about your break-up with that low life." Carly said happily.

Veronica smiled and looked back at the computer screen. She typed Jeremy's name again and stared at it for a few moments. She was about to click "enter" when suddenly... everything clicked. "Hey Carly?" she asked suddenly.

"Yeah?" Carly asked.

"What sport does Jeremy play?" she asked.

"Um... basketball, I think." Carly answered.

"Wasn't Jeremy's father a famous basketball player in the late 70s or something?" Veronica asked.

"Yeah, why?" Carly asked curiously.

"Do you remember anything that Cecilia told you about Jeremy, like about his relationship with his parents?" she asked.

"Um... Cecilia told me that Jeremy had some issues with his father because of sports. Jeremy wanted to be a teacher and his dad wanted him to be a basketball star just like him. I mean I felt bad for Jeremy, I guess I've always felt bad for him. Even though he was "rich", he had it rough. I mean his dad was so strict! I remember this one time when Jeremy and Cecilia were first going out. He came over for dinner and his dad called him like fifty times just to know what he was eating, so it wouldn't ruin his "physic" for basketball season. Man, just leave it to Mr. Maran to kill an evening." Carly answered shaking her head in disgust.

"What college does he go to?" Veronica asked.

"I don't know, but I heard he got some basketball scholarship somewhere in the lost horizon. Veronica, if I knew what college he goes to, then I wouldn't be here asking for your help. Boy, oh boy, I bet he hates it there, though. He was always very humble and down to Earth. He didn't like the craziness of his father's fame and his own social status. He was a really cool guy to be around. Cecilia told me that he dreamed of breaking free from his father's control. He didn't want his father's life. He wanted his own." Carly answered.

"So, it is possible that Jeremy finally got his dream?" Veronica asked.

Carly looked at Veronica and asked excitedly, "Where are you getting at?"

"Well, I think that Jeremy Maran, isn't Jeremy Maran anymore. I think that he changed his name to escape his father." Veronica answered proudly.

"Oh my God! No wonder we couldn't find him! I mean his parents are in Brazil or Spain enjoying an early retirement and he changed his name! Oh, I wish I could've seen him stand up to his dad! Wow, that would've been one hell of a show!" Carly exclaimed happily.

"Okay, what was Jeremy's full name again?" Veronica asked.

"Um... his full name was Jeremy Tristan Maran, why are you asking me this again? Shouldn't we be figuring out his new name?" Carly asked.

"Well I'm asking you this again because I think that just told me his new name." Veronica answered.

"Excuse me?" Carly asked in disbelief.

"I think that he simply dropped his last name. I mean you said that he was a simple kind of guy. It's only logical that he wasn't going to go for Jeremy Juanito Branwell Oats! I'm guessing that he's not Jeremy Maran anymore, but simply Jeremy Tristan now." Veronica answered as she typed the name into the search.

Carly bit her lip in anticipation and finally, after weeks of empty searches, there was in fact a Jeremy Tristan.

"Okay, Jeremy Tristan who lives in San Francisco, California." Veronica said happily as she jotted down the address.

"So, is this him?" Carly asked excitedly.

"Yeah, I'm guessing that it's him. Well, we'll just have to go and see for ourselves." Veronica answered as she shrugged her shoulders.

Carly looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean that 'we'll just have to go and see for ourselves'?" she asked puzzled.

"Well I mean that we'll just have to go to San Francisco and pay Jeremy Tristan a visit." Veronica answered simply.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute! Are you joking?" Carly asked in disbelief.

"No, I'm quite serious." Veronica answered smiling. Carly just started at her.

"Carly, why don't we just go home and celebrate a brand spankin' New Year and then on Monday, we'll go drive up to San Francisco and visit him. It'll only take one day. We'll leave early in the morning and then we'll be back way before midnight." Veronica reasoned.

Carly bit her lip as she contemplated Veronica's suggestion. She thought about it for a few more moments before answering. "What will I tell my mom? I don't think she's going to be happy when she finds out that I'm going to visit good ol' Jeremy." she asked smiling.

Veronica laughed and answered, "Just tell your mom that you're going to spend the day with Beav... Cassidy. You can ask him to cover for you. Then you can leave your house at seven o'clock in the morning, and take a bus to the beach. Then, I'll pick you up there at about eight o'clock in the morning. We'll drive to San Francisco, visit Jeremy, get the DNA sample, leave, and we can be home just in time for CSI: Miami. So, how does that sound?"

"Well, that sounds like you've been planning this for months!" Carly exclaimed smiling.

Veronica laughed. "So does that sound like a plan?" she asked.

Carly smiled and answered, "Yeah, that sounds like a plan."

Author's Notes: Please! Don't shoot! Here's another chapter! Sorry for the long wait, but I was extremely busy! Well, I hope y'all had a great, happy, and safe holiday. Happy New Year from me to you! Also, please review! I appreciate all reviews! Shout out to ANiME-AsIaN-ChiCK69, wickedshizit, Emily-in-Sydney7457, Simply Lily, xXxLOLAxXx, FanFicFairy514, FANATICAL DRAMA QUEEN, & Movies are love for reviewing the previous chapter! Ally love you long time! lol. I hope y'all enjoyed the new chapter! Also, next chapter, expect Veronica and Carly to bond more. Yes, they will become friends!

Ally


	15. Chapter 15: Surprise

Title: Home Sweet Home

Author: Modern-Insomniac1138

Pairing/Character: Logan/OC Friendship, LoVe eventually, Beaver/OC, Ensemble

Word Count: 4,530

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Carly Hayes is a freshman at Neptune High, and she's an old friend of the Echolls Family. Slight AU. Season 2.

Disclaimer: I do not own Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas does. Though I wish I owned Logan… Oh well!

_August 1, 2002_

_"Hey Car, did you see my silver bracelet anywhere around here?" Cecilia Hayes asked as she started scanning Carly's bedroom._

_"Yeah, I think you left it on the vanity." Carly answered hazily as she coughed._

_"Thanks Car, I'm sorry I can't watch you tonight, but you should've seen the way Logan looked at me. I felt really bad that he would be bored out of his mind and alone at his dad's movie release party. Plus, you like our nanny, so you'll have some good company. I know that you'll have fun watching Star Wars or playing poker with Nanny Christy." Cecilia said apologetically as she walked over to the vanity to look for her bracelet._

_"It's okay, it's not like I'll miss you or anything." Carly said playfully as she snatched a tissue to blow her nose._

_"Aw, thanks sis." Cecilia said sarcastically as she found the silver bracelet and put it on._

_"So, why so blah today?" Carly asked as she scrunched her nose in disapproval._

_"What?" Cecilia asked in confusion. Carly, then, motioned to what Cecilia was wearing. Cecilia looked down at the black knee high skirt, long white-sleeved turtle neck shirt, and jean jacket that she was currently wearing. _

_"What! I like it!" Cecilia said defensively._

_"Yeah, so does every grandma in America." Carly said._

_"Fine, I'll wear a tank top instead of this shirt!" Cecilia said reluctantly as she exited Carly's room to change. A few moments later, she returned wearing a hot pink tank top under the jean jacket instead of the shirt that she was previously adorning._

_"See, now that's more like it! So, have you talked to Jeremy, yet?" Carly asked._

_"No, why?" Cecilia asked._

_"I don't know, maybe you should call him before you go out with Logan tonight. I mean he is your boyfriend and I..." Carly started before she sneezed._

_Cecilia sighed as she reached for a tissue and handed it to Carly. "Thanks." Carly mumbled as she blew her nose into the tissue._

_"Your welcome and no, I haven't talked to Jeremy, yet. Carly, I've hung out with Logan tons of times and I haven't told Jeremy. What makes tonight so different?" Cecilia asked angrily._

_"I don't know. Cecilia, it was just a suggestion. You don't have to bite my head off for just wondering." Carly said defensively._

_"Sorry about yelling at you. I'm just sort of frustrated with Jeremy right now. He's just being such a hot head because of his whole basketball thing! It's getting so annoying! I mean we've been together since I was like 16! We're going in different places right now, and I'm just so confused! I mean lately he's been moody and difficult. Sometimes, I don't even think he hears me anymore." Cecilia said worriedly as she plopped onto the chair next to the vanity._

_"Well, Cecilia, I don't know what to tell you. I'm only eleven years old and I don't know how to handle those types of situations, but I guess you should just follow your heart. You know that Jeremy's home life is hard and stressful. I mean his dad is like the president of Obnoxious, Controlling Parents United. You should give him some credit for being able to live in that hellhole. Think about how he feels and maybe that'll help you." Carly suggested._

_"Okay, who died and made you Oprah?" Cecilia asked playfully._

_"Cecilia, I'm trying to be serious and mature over here!" Carly whined._

_"Yeah well, right now, you sound like a five-year-old. Look, I appreciate the advice, but I think I can handle it." Cecilia said knowingly._

_"You really love him don't you?" Carly asked smiling._

_"What? I'm... We're... I'm just... okay! Okay! Yeah, I do really love him! He can be a real idiot sometimes, but I can't help it! I'm head over heels in love with him! Are you happy now?" Cecilia asked loudly._

_"Yeah, I am, but geez, you are such a girly girl! You still actually say 'head over heels'!" Carly said as she started to laugh. Cecilia then threw a pillow at her._

_"Ow! What was that for?" Carly asked angrily._

_"That was for laughing! Look, you'll understand how it is to be in love when you find that special somebody someday." Cecilia answered._

_"Well, I don't think that'll happen unless it's Luke Skywalker or Han Solo! I mean, do you honestly think that there's that special somebody for me out there?" Carly asked._

_"Yeah, I think there's a special somebody for everyone. Or in the words of Star Wars, maybe there's somebody for you in a galaxy far, far away!" Cecilia said smiling._

"_Yeah, real funny!" Carly said sarcastically before she sneezed once again._

Present/ January 2, 2006

"Carly! Carly! Carly, wake-up!" Veronica shouted.

"What? Are we there already?" Carly asked groggily as she rubbed her eyes.

"No, but I just wanted to know if you were still alive. You've been asleep since we left Neptune!" Veronica answered.

"Oh, so are we there yet?" Carly asked curiously as she looked out the passenger side window of Veronica's Chrysler LeBaron to scan her surroundings.

"Well, probably a few more hours left. I mean you were asleep for a really long time." Veronica answered. A few minutes past as they both sat in silence.

"You know, I thought road trips are supposed to be fun and exciting! I mean have you ever seen 'Crossroads' or 'Road Trip'? I mean they look like they're having a great time!" Carly said knowingly as she continued to look out the window.

"'Crossroads'? Wasn't Britney Spears in that? So you're basing your view on road trips because of a Britney Spears movie and a Tom Green movie?" Veronica asked.

"Well, basically yes." Carly answered sheepishly.

Veronica laughed and then asked, "So, what kind of music do you listen to?"

"Hm... that's a tough question. I mean you've got everything and anything to choose from! I mean there's classic rock, R&B, new age, punk, alternative, rap, pop, hip hop, jazz, soul, tech..." Carly started before Veronica put her hand up to stop her.

"I just want to know what kind of music you listen to." Veronica said.

"Oh, well, what ya'd got?" Carly asked.

"Um... I've got Garbage, Tegan & Sara, Ivy..." Veronica trailed.

"Oh, Garbage would be great!" Carly exclaimed happily.

"Ah, good choice." Veronica said smiling as she reached over to the glove compartment to get the CD. "I only brought their 1998 album."

"It's cool, I like all their albums." Carly said as Veronica popped the CD into the CD player. Soon after, the car was filled with the sweet sound of Shirley Manson's voice.

"So, how was your New Year's?" Carly asked.

"Good. I just spent it with my dad, Wallace, and his family. You know, just a little get together. So, how was your New Year's Eve date with Cassidy?" Veronica asked raising an eyebrow.

"It was great! He took me to his house and we watched the fireworks from his balcony. It was so cool!" Carly answered happily.

"So was it romantic?" Veronica asked.

"Yes, it very much was." Carly answered.

"Did you two kiss, yet?" Veronica asked.

"No, it just seems like we're either being interrupted or it just isn't the right moment. For the whole midnight kiss thing, he just kissed me on the cheek. It was just so weird to think that we've been on so many dates, but there has been absolutely no action what so ever. We're just a couple of first graders stuck in high schoolers' bodies." Carly answered.

"Well, don't worry, when the right moment comes, you'll know." Veronica said.

"So, who was your first kiss with?" Carly asked curiously.

"Um... Duncan." Veronica said quickly as she flinched slightly.

"No it wasn't! You flinched! You're lying!" Carly exclaimed.

"No, I'm not!" Veronica said defensively.

"Yes you are! Now tell me who was your first kiss with!" Carly demanded.

Veronica sighed heavily and asked, "Okay, do you honestly want to know?"

"Yeah." Carly answered smiling.

"Stanley Norman. I was nine and it was a double dog dare! I mean you can't get out of a double dog dare!" Veronica said.

"You had your first kiss with a guy named Stanley Norman?" Carly asked incredulously.

"See, that's why I tell people that Duncan was my first kiss. It sounds so much better than Stanley Norman! Wow, I've never told anyone, except for Lilly, about Stanley." Veronica said.

"Don't worry, since you told me a secret about you, I'll tell you a secret about me." Carly said.

"Okay, shoot." Veronica said.

"The theme from Ice Castles always gets to me." Carly said suddenly.

"Ice Castles? That ice skating movie? Wow, where'd that come from?" Veronica asked.

"Yes, Ice Castles. Look, I've never told anyone that nor has anyone witnessed that. One time I was almost caught, though. I was watching it with Logan and I started to tear up a bit and when he saw me, I lied and told him that there was an eyelash stuck in my eye." Carly said.

Veronica laughed and asked, "What's scarier, you crying to the theme of Ice Castles or Logan watching Ice Castles?"

Carly chuckled and answered, "I'd have to say Logan watching Ice Castles, but you've got to give him some slack. I was eight and I begged him for weeks."

"Well, just so you feel better, same here. I used to watch that movie religiously when I was younger with my mom." Veronica said.

"Wow, we have more things in common than I thought." Carly said.

"Yeah, I guess we do." Veronica said.

"So, are there any guys in the near future for you?" Carly asked.

"Well, if Josh Hartnett ever returns my phone calls then the answer is a yes." Veronica said smiling.

"C'mon V, I'm serious." Carly said.

"Uh, no one in particular." Veronica answered hastily.

"Are you sure?" Carly asked.

"Yeah." Veronica answered.

"So I guess Logan's out of the picture, huh?" Carly asked.

"Carly... Logan and I... our relationship is very complicated and..." Veronica started.

"Veronica, don't feed me that 'our relationship is complicated' speech! I practically wrote that with my weirdo relationship with Cassidy. I just want to know if there's any chance of you and Logan getting back together!" Carly demanded loudly.

"Why do you want to know so badly?" Veronica asked.

"Because... because I know that Logan misses you. I know that he still loves you and that you still love him! Would you two just stop dancing around each other and just kiss and make-up already!" Carly answered loudly.

"Logan and I are ancient history. Even if he wanted to get back together, I don't know, I just don't think he'll ever trust me again. I don't think things will ever be the same." Veronica said.

"Why are you so intent on things being the same? I know it may not be my place to say this since I haven't known you that long, but nothing will ever be the same! Not after Lilly's death. Not after everything that's happened. You can't keep pretending that if you close your eyes Lilly will be alive, Duncan and you would still be the perfect couple, and everything would be safe and alright. You have to realize that everything's changed and even how hard you try, you can't change that. You just have to deal with it! Life is too short to waste it on false dreams! It's the start of a brand new year! As in the words of Cake, 'As soon as your born, you start dying. So you might as well have a good time'! So, you just have to live your life without thinking of what you don't have!" Carly shouted loudly. She then looked over at Veronica, who was staring at her in shock.

"Wow, I just got yelled at by a 14-year-old." Veronica said in shock.

"Wow, I just yelled at an 18-year-old." Carly said in shock as she started to stare at her hands. She then looked over at Veronica again, and started to laugh. Veronica started laughing too.

"You know, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship kid. I think some of my spunk and tenacity is rubbing off on you." Veronica said proudly.

"You betcha." Carly said smiling.

"Sorry if I do come off as an ungrateful bitch, but this is how I cope. This isn't how I thought things would turn out. I never thought that Lilly would be dead, Duncan would be a complete ass, and Logan would be the one that I actually like." Veronica said sadly.

"Sorry for yelling at you. It's just that Logan, you know, he still loves you so much. He doesn't say it, but just call it a woman's intuition. He still has feelings for you, and I hope you do too because I'm not cupid or anything, but it would be nice if just one of you would just make a move. The ball is in your court Veronica, even if you may not know it yet." Carly said.

Veronica sighed, "Yeah, I guess it is."

* * *

"So, we're here." Veronica said as she turned off the engine. 

"Yeah, I guess we are." Carly whispered.

"Are you sure you want to do this? I mean you might find out stuff that you may or may not like." Veronica reasoned.

"No, I'm sure. I'll talk to him and I'll get the DNA sample. We'll be in and out. Veronica, we came a long way. I have to do this, right? I mean this is the right thing to do?" Carly asked.

"Yeah, it is. So, what do you plan to do if Jeremy is Dakota's dad?" Veronica asked.

"Huh? Well, I'm a very poor planner because I didn't really think of that. I guess if he wants Dakota, then it's only right for her to live with her dad. I mean my dad is a total dead weight, but I'm sure Jeremy is going to be a good dad once he's ready and out of college, which will be soon since he's got one year left. Plus, that's just and 'if'. We still need to find out if he even is Dakota's dad." Carly answered.

"Okay, let's go then." Veronica said as she and Carly got out of her car, which she had parked in front the old, decrepit townhouse that Jeremy could be occupying.

"Are you sure this is the right address? How sure are you that this is even the right person?" Carly asked nervously.

"Carly, there was only one Jeremy Tristan listed." Veronica said as they walked up some steep stairs leading to the door of the townhouse.

"Well, how sure are you that Jeremy even changed his name to Jeremy Tristan?" Carly asked as Veronica rang the doorbell.

"Carly, just take a chill pill!" Veronica said as the door opened. Carly looked at the person, who had just opened the door, in shock.

"Hi, may I help you?" the young woman asked. She had wavy light brown hair just below her shoulders, blue/green eyes, looked like she was in her early twenties, and was about a couple inches taller than Veronica. She was also pregnant.

"Oh, I'm sorry we're probably at the wrong door." Carly said hastily as she tried to turn around.

"Not so fast speedy." Veronica said as she grabbed Carly's arm to stop her. Carly groaned as she stopped to face the pregnant woman again.

"Hi, I'm Veronica Mars and the young lady who tried to run away is Carly Hayes. We're looking for Jeremy Tristan, if he even lives here." Veronica said smiling.

The young pregnant woman took another look at the two to make sure they weren't serial killers and then smiled approvingly. "Yeah, Jeremy lives here, but he probably won't be back until four. He's got classes. Um, why are you looking for him?" she asked.

"Oh, we're just a couple of old friends from his hometown of Neptune." Veronica answered.

"Okay, well you two can come inside and wait for him if you want. I mean, he should be home in twenty minutes or so." the woman said sweetly.

"Actually..." Carly started before Veronica hit her in the arm.

"Actually, that would be great." Veronica said smiling.

"Yeah, it would." Carly said as she rubbed her arm in pain.

"Okay, well come on in." the woman said as she stepped aside for Veronica and Carly to enter. "You two can sit in the living room." she said as she motioned to the couch.

"Thanks." Carly mumbled.

"Would you like some tea?" she asked.

"No, coffee actually. Lots and lots of coffee." Carly answered.

"Okay, coffee it is." she said as she went to the kitchen.

Veronica and Carly both took a seat on the antique, white couch. "Why are you acting so weird?" Veronica asked.

"Well, who the hell is that? Is that his pregnant girlfriend, wife, or fiancée? I mean she's pregnant! If Dakota is Jeremy's daughter, I don't think he'll want her. He's got a family now!" Carly said angrily.

"Well, for all we know, that might be his pregnant cousin." Veronica reasoned.

"Yeah right! Man, Dakota could've had a real parent! She could've had a dad!" Carly whined.

"Carly, I told you that you may or may not like what we were about to find out! It's been three years! He's moved on from Cecilia! Did he even know that she was pregnant?" Veronica asked.

"No, I'm guessing he found out after we left. See, after they broke up, she stopped talking to him." Carly answered.

"You know, we don't even know if Dakota is Jeremy's daughter." Veronica said.

"So, it's still not fair! He gets to move on and have a life while Cecilia dies! He gets to live here with that girl and go to college and have a future! We don't know shit and that's it! I'm just so confused. Damnit!" Carly cursed loudly.

"Excuse me?" the woman asked as she came back with two mugs of coffee.

"Oh nothing." Carly said as the woman handed her a mug.

"Oh thanks. Um, sorry but we didn't catch your name." Veronica said as the woman handed her the other mug.

"I'm Emma. I'm Jeremy's fiancée." she said as she flashed Veronica the engagement ring on her hand. Carly, at the sight of it, choked as she took a sip of the coffee.

"Are you alright?" Emma asked worriedly as she took a seat across from them.

"Yeah, the coffee's just really, really hot." Carly answered as she put the mug down on the small, wooden coffee table in front of them.

"Wow, that's a really nice ring. How long have you and Jeremy been dating?" Veronica asked as she took a sip of her coffee.

"Um, we've been dating for two years." Emma answered.

"Did you and Jeremy meet in college?" Veronica asked curiously.

"No, I never attended college." Emma answered casually.

"Huh?" Veronica asked in confusion.

Emma chuckled and said, "Well, see I ran away from home when I was 14 because I was physically and mentally abused by my family, and I've been living in San Francisco ever since. I started out working in this small antique ship a few blocks from here. This sweet old lady named Blaire owned it. She helped me out. I had no experience what so ever, but she gave me the job. She let me live in the apartment upstairs, and she understood that I couldn't go back to my family, so she made sure I was okay. We used to talk all the time. She was just an utter angel. Then, when I was 18, she died. I was so heartbroken, but then her lawyer told me she left the antique shop and this townhouse to me."

"What does this actually have to do with Jeremy?" Carly asked bitterly as she took the last sip of her coffee.

"Oh, sorry for my rambling. The antique is actually where Jeremy and me met. One day, he came in to sell his grandfather's watch to make some money. I bought it and I just remembered the way he looked at me. He looked so sad to sell it. Well, it was for up sale, but I decided not to sell it. I got so many offers for it, but I didn't take them. I don't know what I was thinking, but part of me believed that he would come and buy it back. I was hoping he would come back and buy it, and he did. A month later, he came and asked if he could some how buy it back. See, there was a slight problem. He didn't have any money to spare since he was using up all his money for college. So I made him a deal. I told him that he could work for it. I gave him a job at the antique shop in exchange for the watch. He was at that damn shop whenever he wasn't at college. He was really determined. Well, then we started talking. We found out that we had a lot in common, and then we sort of fell in love. I still own the antique shop, but I hired a manager because of this little guy or girl." Emma answered smiling as she rubbed her pregnant belly.

"Wow, that's really romantic! It's like from a movie or something!" Veronica exclaimed as she finished her coffee.

"Yeah, sure does." Carly mumbled sarcastically.

"So how far along are you?" Veronica asked pointing to Emma's belly.

"Oh, about five months." Emma answered.

"Wow, well congratulations." Veronica said smiling.

"Thanks, well would you two like more coffee?" Emma asked.

"Yes please!" Carly answered quickly.

"Okay then." Emma said as she took the two empty mugs into the kitchen.

"Yeah, she's his pregnant cousin." Carly said sarcastically once Emma left the room.

"Carly, stop acting like this!" Veronica pleaded.

"Veronica, you don't understand! This is going to get very awkward once Jeremy comes home. How am I supposed to say, 'Hi Jeremy! Wow, you've sure changed! I mean, you're engaged! Wow, now that's big news. Well, you probably don't recognize me, but I'm Carly Hayes, Cecilia Hayes' little sister. You remember Cecilia, right? Your ex-girlfriend? Well, then you probably heard already, but Cecilia had a baby a couple years ago that may or may not be yours, but I'm pretty sure it's yours. So anyways, can I have a sample of your DNA so I send it to a lab or something to compare it to Cecilia's daughter's, so I can totally mess up your life? Great, thanks'. Is that what I'm supposed to say?" Carly asked.

"Well, that's about it." Veronica answered shrugging.

"Do you think that we should just leave?" Carly asked.

"Why?" Veronica asked.

"I don't know. As much as I don't like the fact that he's moved on, he's had it rough and for him to have a chance at real happiness. I don't want to mess that up." Carly answered sadly.

"If you really are sure, then I'll tell Emma that we have to go." Veronica said as Emma came back.

"Here, well I guess I underestimated my coffee skills because you two seem to really like mine." Emma said smiling as she set the two mugs down on the coffee table.

"Emma, thanks for everything, but..." Veronica started before the sound of the front door opening interrupted her.

"Emma! I'm home!" a deep, manly voice shouted.

"Crap!" Carly mumbled.

"Hi honey, I'm in the living room with a couple of your old friends from Neptune." Emma said happily.

"What?" Jeremy asked in confusion as he walked into the living room. He looked at the two women sitting on his couch and walked over to Emma and gave her a peck on the lips. "Hey babe. Who are they?"

"Oh, sorry. I guess you don't remember them, but that's Veronica Mars." she said pointing at Veronica, who waved. "And the other one is Carly Hayes." she said pointing at Carly, who smiled weakly.

"Carly? Carly Hayes? What are you doing here?" he asked in disbelief and confusion.

"Hi Jeremy. Well, we need to talk." she said smiling weakly as Jeremy continued to stare at her in confusion.

Author's Notes: Sorry that it's been more than a month since I last updated! It's just that with school and everything, updates will be limited to probably no more than once a month, twice if you're lucky. Well, I just wanted to say thanks for reading and that I hope you enjoyed the new chapter. I know that there has been some worry about who Dakota's father is, but you just have to trust me when I tell you that I have a plan! For all those worry warts out there who think that Logan is Dakota's papa, you'll just going to have to trust my word and judgment that I, Ally, have a plan that I think you may enjoy. Also, for all you crazy LoVe fans that are craving some Logan/Veronica interaction, well you're just in luck. Next chapter will spark a turn around in the story and spur a big time LoVe reunion that will take place between the next new two to three chapters (Chapters 17-18), so just keep your pants on and wait! Well, just like I always do every time I update, I beg of you to review! Please, just for my own sanity, just review! Also, big shout out to ANiME-AsIaN-ChiCK69! HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY NIKKI! This chapter is dedicated to you! And another big shout out to wickedshizit for just being a great pal! You rock Courtney, and sorry that I haven't replied your e-mail in the longest time! I've just been really busy, but I hope you enjoyed the new chapter! Talk to you soon, and don't worry, someday we'll be making the music industry go down on it's knees and praise us! lol, j/k... well sort of! And last, but certainly not least, Emily-In-Sydney7457 for being the best Australian pal any girl could have! Jared Padalecki would be proud! lol, ttyl! Well, for everyone out there, thanks for waiting for me to update and adios amigos!

Ally


	16. Chapter 16: Breakdown

Title: Home Sweet Home

Author: Modern-Insomniac1138

Pairing/Character: Logan/OC Friendship, LoVe eventually, Beaver/OC, Ensemble

Word Count: 2,435

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Carly Hayes is a freshman at Neptune High, and she's an old friend of the Echolls Family. Slight AU. Season 2.

Disclaimer: I do not own Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas does. Though I wish I owned Logan… Oh well!

_August 1, 2002_

_"Cecilia! Cecilia! Cecilia, open the door!" Logan Echolls yelled impatiently as he banged on the door of the Hayes residence. "Hurry up, your parents already left! They're now enjoying shrimp puffs and vintage wine at my place! I don't think you want to miss it!"_

_A few minutes passed and there was still no answer._

_"Cecilia!" Logan shouted before the door opened._

_"Hey, will you shut up already? I'm here!" Cecilia said as she emerged from her house._

_"Yeah, whatever. Can we go now? I've been waiting out here for about twenty minutes." Logan whined._

_"Wow, you are seriously six years old!" Cecilia exclaimed as she slipped her cell phone into her purse._

_"C'mon, let's go," Logan said as they walked toward his house, "The fun's only begun."_

Present

"Okay, what do you need to talk to me about?" Jeremy asked slightly confused and agitated as he sat in a chair across from Carly and next to Emma.

"Well, um... how can I say this, but... uh... hey cool shirt!" Carly exclaimed as she tried to change the subject.

"Thanks, I guess." Jeremy mumbled.

"Yeah, well, I always knew that blue was your color and so is..." Carly started before Veronica nudged her in the arm. "Ow!" she exclaimed as she rubbed her arm in pain. "Gee Veronica, you're really in the hitting mood today!"

"Carly, I don't think you drove all this way from Neptune to compliment my shirt." Jeremy said. "Now tell me what you need to talk to me about."

"Okay, um... I know that this may be hard for you to listen to but, I have to talk to you about Cecilia." Carly said apologetically as she watched how Jeremy nodded in acceptance of her answer.

"Emma, can you excuse us for a moment." Jeremy whispered as he looked at his fiancée in desperation. "Carly, Veronica..." he paused as he glanced at Veronica to make sure that he had said her name right. She nodded a 'yes', and he went on, "... and I need to talk alone for a while."

"Jeremy, are you sure?" Emma asked worriedly as she started to stroke his face.

"Yeah, I am. Why don't you take a nap, babe? You seem really tired, and that's not very good for you and the baby." Jeremy suggested lovingly as he cupped her hand on his face.

"That sounds like a good idea. I'll see you later." Emma said as she kissed Jeremy lightly on the lips. "It was nice to meet you both. I hope you stop by again." she said as she turned to Veronica and Carly.

"Me too, and thanks for everything." Veronica said graciously.

"Yeah…thanks." Carly said as she smiled weakly. Emma nodded and left the room.

"Okay, so now that it's just us, what do you want? How can you just come into my home and interrupt my life like this? What's there left to talk about Cecilia?" Jeremy asked.

"Jeremy..." Carly started but then she couldn't find the words.

"Carly." Jeremy said sternly.

"Jeremy, it's very complicated. I don't know how you'll take what I'm about to ask you." Carly said as she glanced at Veronica to make sure whether or not she should continue. Veronica weakly smiled and motioned for her to continue.

"Jeremy, we were good friends. I mean, you and I talked plenty of times, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, we were. Look, I've known you for a long time. I've known you for as long as I've known Cecilia, and Cecilia and I were friends since first grade before she and I started dating. You have to tell me what's going on. Tell me why you're here." Jeremy demanded.

"Remember that conversation we had before you and Cecilia broke up?" Carly asked.

"Yeah, I remember." he answered.

"I said that you and Cecilia were meant to be together. I told you that you weren't going anywhere. I asked you to stay with her, but then a week later, you two break up. Why?" she asked angrily. "You promised me that you would try to work it out. You promised that you would stay. Was it the fact that she was pregnant? Is that why you broke up with her?"

"No, Carly, there's some things that you will never understand. You may not even believe me if I told you." Jeremy answered.

"Try me." she said bitterly as she started to clench her jaw tightly.

"I didn't break up with her... she broke up with me." he answered.

"What?" Carly asked in disbelief.

"You don't understand. I was madly in love with your sister. She was all I could think about. I was so willing to work things out, but then she called me and told me that she couldn't be with me. She told me that there were some things that she had to work out on her own. She said that she loved me, but that she didn't deserve me. She never mentioned anything about a baby." he answered.

"Liar! Stop lying! You broke up with her! That's what she told me! Stop lying!" Carly shouted angrily.

"Carly, listen to him. Give him a chance to explain." Veronica suggested earnestly.

"Yeah Carly, just please listen to me. I asked her why, and she just started crying. I was so hurt and confused. We stopped talking after that. She would always avoid me. I guess that's inevitable, I mean, she didn't really talk to anyone after that. She quit all her extracurricular activities at school. She stopped hanging out with Heather and all her friends. It was like she just stopped her life." he started as he looked up at Carly to make sure that she was hearing this.

"Then, three months later, you guys moved away. She never even told me that you guys were moving. A few weeks later, I find out from the National Inquirer, that the Hayes Cosmetic heiress, Cecilia Hayes, was pregnant. I was so upset. I didn't know if that baby was mine or not, so I just assumed that since she broke up with me and that she didn't tell me was because she didn't want me involved in her baby's life. I just figured that she wanted me out of the picture." he said as he rubbed his eyes in frustration.

"Jeremy, please stop lying. That's not true, she would never." Carly cried out hysterically.

"Carly, it is true. Then, about five months later, I get a phone call from Cecilia. She's hysterical. She starts going on and on about someone trying to kill her. I tell to go to sleep and to call me when she's calm. She never calls me back. I try to call the number that she used to call me, but it's out of service. All of a sudden, a couple weeks later, she gives birth to a healthy baby girl and dies in childbirth. Somehow, I felt responsible. I couldn't go on with my life. I felt that it was my fault. That if I had told someone about Cecilia's phone call, that she wouldn't be dead. I tried so fucking hard to go on with my life. I went to college, I started dating, I went to parties, but I wasn't complete. I felt like this wasn't the life I wanted. So I left college, got abandoned by my family, changed my name, and moved out here to attend college to become a teacher. Then I met Emma. She reminded me of Cecilia in a way, but Emma's my true soul mate. I think Cecilia did me a favor by breaking up with me. I think that by not involving me in her daughter's life, I could live my own life and..." Jeremy trailed before Carly slapped him. Veronica looked at her in shock.

"Shut up! If you are Dakota's father, then you ruined my life. You had to get Cecilia's pregnant! You killed her! You fucking bastard, you killed her, and you killed me! You made my family move to North Carolina, a place where everyone hated me and made fun of me! I couldn't go to sleep because I would hear Cecilia crying herself to sleep every single night, but the crying didn't stop there! Her daughter cried even louder every night! She wanted her mother! She wanted her poor, dead mother and I couldn't give it to her! I could never be her mother! You ruined everything! I thought by coming here I could get a DNA sample from you and prove that you are Dakota's father! I thought by coming here that Dakota could have a real family, but no! You have your own life! You have a new life! You have college, a beautiful, caring, and sweet fiancée, a baby on the way, and a future! It's just not fair how you can live and Cecilia had to die! It just not fucking fair!" Carly shouted as she got up from where she was sitting and started to run out the door. Jeremy quickly followed and stopped her before she could get to the door. Veronica got up from where she was sitting, also, and watched as Jeremy pulled Carly into a hug as he tried to comfort her.

"Let me go!" Carly wailed as tears started to stream violently down her face.

"Shh..." Jeremy whispered gently as he continued to try to comfort her. "I'm sorry." he started to whisper as she started to breakdown in his arms.

"No! Please, just let me go..." she whispered as she continued to cry in Jeremy's arms.

"Shh..." was all he could whisper back. He, then, looked up at Veronica, who could only watch in sympathy.

* * *

"Here, you go." Jeremy said as he handed Carly a glass of water and a tissue. 

"Thanks." she mumbled as she took a sip of water and wiped her tears away with the tissue. Veronica rubbed her back soothingly.

"Are you sure you're going to be alright?" Jeremy asked as he watched Carly play with the tissue.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Sorry about my whole breakdown. It's just that I had never really let all my feelings out before. I guess seeing you and your new life, all the feelings started coming back and it all erupted into one big blowout. I'm sorry about slapping you, too." Carly answered apologetically.

"It's okay. So, you really came here for a sample of my DNA?" Jeremy asked.

"Yeah." Carly whispered.

"And you are here for some friendly support?" Jeremy asked Veronica.

"Actually, I'm here because..." Veronica started before Carly interrupted. "She's actually here to meet you. She's a family friend." Carly said as she glanced at Veronica, who smiled.

"Um… Jeremy?" Veronica asked.

"Yeah?" Jeremy asked.

"Earlier, you mentioned a phone call from Cecilia. Who threatened to kill her?" Veronica asked.

"I'm not sure. I'm not even sure that it's true or not. I mean she died in childbirth. Who would want to kill her anyway? I don't blame myself for her death anymore. She died from a natural cause, and I've learned to live with that explanation." Jeremy answered.

"Well, I think we should be going. We've been intruding for three hours, already. Thanks for everything." Veronica said.

"Oh, you aren't intruding. I understand completely." Jeremy said.

Veronica smiled and looked at Carly. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah." Carly said as she stood up. "Bye Jeremy. I'll see you soon. Here's my number if you need anything. Call me when the baby's born." she said as she pulled Jeremy in for a hug.

"I will. Bye Carly." he said as he let go of her and turned to Veronica. "Nice to meet you Veronica. I hope I'll see you soon, also."

"Same here." Veronica said as she and Jeremy shook hands.

"Okay, well say good-bye to Emma for us." Carly said as she started to walk toward the door.

"Carly, wait!" Jeremy said. She stopped and turned around to face him.

"Wait here." he said as he scurried into the kitchen. Carly looked at Veronica in confusion, but she only smiled back like she knew what was going on.

A few minutes later he came back with a small Ziploc bag. He then yanked out a piece of his hair, put it neatly inside the bag, and sealed it.

"Here." he said smiling as he handed it to Carly.

"Oh, Jeremy, I can't... not now." Carly said as Jeremy put up his hand to stop her.

"Please, you came all this way for this. Just take it. I hope you find what you're looking for, Carly Hayes." he said smiling. Carly smiled back and jumped up to hug him again. "Thank you." she whispered into his ear before kissing him quickly on the cheek.

He smiled back and she let go of him. "Bye you two." he said as they made their way to the door and left.

"Well, that went well." Veronica said smiling as they walked down the stairs toward Veronica's car.

"Yeah, it did." Carly said as they walked toward where Veronica parked her car.

"Are you sure you're going to be alright? I mean you seriously had a big break down back there." Veronica asked with concern lining every word.

"Yeah, I'll be okay. For now, I'm a pretty happy camper. I got the DNA sample, and good ol' Jeremy and I are back on good terms. Plus, soon I'll know the truth." Carly said as they reached the spot where Veronica parked her car.

"Oh shit." Veronica murmured as she stood there in shock.

"Um... Veronica? Where's your car?" Carly asked as they stared in shock at the empty street. Veronica's car was nowhere in sight.

Author's Notes: Thanks for reading! I hope you liked the new chapter! Please, please, please review! Watch out for some LoVe next chapter.

Ally


End file.
